Business
FG begins N75bn support fund disbursement this week
Beginning from this week, the Federal Government will start paying grants to Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises that are successful to partake in the N75bn COVID-19 support schemes.
On September 10, 2020, the Federal Government inaugurated two schemes to financially support about 1.7 million MSMEs across the country with N75bn.
The schemes are the National MSME Survival Fund and the Guaranteed Off-take Stimulus Schemes under the Nigeria Economic Sustainability Plan.
The Special Assistant to the President on MSMEs, Office of the Vice President, who doubles as Project Coordinator, Survival Funds Scheme, Tola Adekunle, told journalists in Abuja on Monday that payments to some beneficiaries of schemes would start this week.
He said, “Presently we are doing it in batches of 12 states to be able to monitor the scheme and as we speak now 12 states are ready. We are hoping that by the end of this week, we will be able to pay 12 states.”
“We are starting with the artisans and it is 4,500 persons per state, plus 4,500 for transporters, bringing it to about 9,000 for each state. Right now, we have about 54,000 from 12 states.”
Asked by Punch when those on the payroll support scheme would start getting their payments, Adekunle replied, “By the end of this month.
“We want to ensure that the staff start getting their salaries and same for the second and third month.”
He explained that payroll support, which was categorized under the survival fund, targets businesses that employ between 10 and 50 people.
Adekunle said, “We now pay 10 of those people from among the 50 employees and we pay them between N30,000 and N50,000.
“But the minimum we pay is three staffs for three months to support their businesses and to ensure that we are helping businesses to augment their salaries.”
He said the payroll support was inaugurated on September 21 and the portal was opened by 11pm, adding that within 24 hours about 132,000 applicants were recorded.
Adekunle said the portal was shut on October 15 but noted that a number of states had not met their quotas and this had created room for an extension.
He said the number of states that had met the quotas were slightly below 20 in number, adding that this led to the strong demand for an extension.
“In my own opinion, it is valid but the decision lies in the hands of the committee and the project coordinator so I have to convince them based on data analysis,” he said.
On the number of applicants for the payroll support, the presidential aide said, “As at the day it closed, we had about 432,000 businesses that had applied. However, we have shortlisted less than 70,000 businesses that qualify and meet the requirements.”
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The Petroleum Products Marketing Company, a subsidiary of the Nigerian National Petroleum Corporation, has increased the ex-depot price of Premium Motor Spirit, also known as petrol, to N155.17 per litre from N147.67 per litre Punch reports,
The PPMC disclosed this in an internal memo with reference number PPMC/C/MK/003, dated November 11, 2020, and signed by Tijjani Ali.
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The memo, a copy of which was seen by our correspondent, said the new ex-depot price would take effect from Friday.
The ex-depot price is the price at which the product is sold by the PPMC to marketers at the depots.
In its PMS price proposal for November, the PPMC put the landing cost of petrol at N128.89 per litre, up from N119.77 per litre in September/October.
It said the estimated minimum pump price of the product would increase to N161.36 per litre from N153.86 per litre.
The National Operation Controller, Independent Petroleum Marketers Association of Nigeria, Mr Mike Osatuyi, in a telephone interview with our correspondent, said the over N7 increase in ex-depot price would translate into an increase in pump prices.
“Crude oil price is going up,” he said, noting that the Federal Government has fully deregulated petrol prices.
Following the deregulation of petrol prices in September, marketers across the country adjusted their pump prices to between N158 and N162 per litre to reflect the increase in global oil prices.
Petrol price band had also risen from N121.50–N123.50 per litre in June to N140.80-N143.80 in July and N148-N150 in August.
The Minister of State for Petroleum Resources, Timipre Sylva, said in September that the government had stepped back in fixing the price of petrol, adding that market forces and crude oil price would continue to determine the cost of the product.
The Dangote group has reacted to a recent report published on Bloomberg that their cement company was solely exempted from the Land Border Closure by the Nigerian government.
The report revealed that Dangote Cement was still able to export products despite the land border closure put in place by the Federal Government thus gaining an ‘unfair’ advantage.
Read Also: Meet Mariya Dangote: Dangote’s Daughter
Responding to the development in a statement sent to POLITICS NIGERIA, signed by Timilehin Oyedare, the cement giant disclosed that the report was ‘misleading’.
“Contrary to reports by Bloomberg that Dangote Cement was granted sole approval to export cement through the land borders, information has emerged that other companies also got approval to export through the land borders. Nigerian Customs Service has reportedly revealed that a gas company have also received presidential approval to move goods across the land borders.”
“Joseph Attah, the spokesperson for Nigerian Customs Service, was said to have clarified on phone from Lagos.”
“Dangote Cement and other companies in July, 2020 got partial special dispensation to export their products with certain sequence of crossing at Ilela land border in Sokoto State and Ohumbe land border in Ogun State, the company clarified.”
The Group Chief, Branding and Communications, Dangote Group, Mr. Anthony Chiejina, said the report is misleading and mischievous because it focused only on Dangote Cement as the sole beneficiary of the partial special dispensation.
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