TWO years into President Bola Tinubu’s administration, the N200 billion intervention fund promised to support manufacturers and micro, small, and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs) has seen limited impact.

While the N50,000 grants to nano businesses commenced disbursement in April 2024, many intended beneficiaries of larger loans to MSMEs and manufacturers are yet to access these funds.

The discrepancy between the initially announced allocations and the actual disbursements announced, coupled with bureaucratic bottlenecks, has led to frustration and uncertainty among stakeholders.

On July 31, 2023, on a nationwide broadcast, Tinubu said he would provide N200 billion to strengthen the country’s manufacturing and MSMEs. His promise came following public outcry over the negative impact of his petrol subsidy removal and foreign exchange unification.

Delayed rollout

The president, upon assumption of office on May 29, 2023, declared that the petrol subsidy was gone. In July of that year, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), under his watch, floated the exchange rate.

The reforms shifted the microeconomics dimension of the country, negatively impacting businesses and suffocating the manufacturing and MSME business environments.

In a bid to cushion the effect on these sectors, Tinubu, in a nationwide broadcast in July 2023, announced the provision of N75 billion to manufacturers and N125 billion to MSMEs as palliatives.

“To strengthen the manufacturing sector, increase its capacity to expand and create good-paying jobs, we will spend N75 billion between July 2023 and March 2024. Our objective is to fund 75 enterprises with great potential to kick-start sustainable economic growth, accelerate structural transformation, and improve productivity.

“Each of the 75 manufacturing enterprises will be able to access N1 billion credit at 9 per cent annum with a maximum of 60 months repayment for long-term loans and 12 months for working capital,” he said in his broadcast.

On MSMEs, he further promised, “Our administration recognises the importance of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises and the informal sector as drivers of growth. We are going to energise this very important sector with N125 billion.”

Originally slated for implementation between July 2023 and March 2024, the intervention fund did not officially launch until April 22, 2024, when the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Doris Uzoka-Anite, announced the rollout of the MSME and manufacturing components.

The minister confirmed that N75 billion had been earmarked for manufacturers, and another N75 billion for MSMEs, raising concerns that the N125 billion initially pledged to MSMEs had been revised downward.

Under the scheme, MSMEs are to access up to N1 million, while manufacturers could receive up to N1 billion in credit at a subsidised interest rate.

Despite this launch, many business owners and trade associations say they have yet to see any disbursement under the major loan programme. The ICIR reported that access to the interventionist funds required a bureaucratic process.

Stakeholders dissatisfaction 

Several major business groups, including the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists, Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI) and the Association of Micro-Entrepreneurs of Nigeria (AMEN), have at different times expressed concerns over the delayed and opaque execution of the president’s pledge.

Many of them have told The ICIR that the only information they have about the intervention was the President’s pronouncement.

At the onset of the pronouncement, they had raised concerns about the criteria for disbursement, the requirements, terms and conditions, prospects, and the agencies that would disburse the funds.

Implementation drags 

The Director-General of the Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN), Segun Ajayi-Kadir, who should be more concerned about the issue, promised to speak with the reporter but didn’t pick up subsequent calls to his phone line.

He had previously expressed worries over the slow implementation of the President’s policy statement on the loan facility to manufacturers and MSMEs.

His critical point has been that the N75 billion and N125 billion to manufacturers and MSMEs would not address the credit crisis in that sector.

Ajayi-Kadir had even suggested that a permanent solution could be a deliberate attempt by the government to prioritise loan facilities at an interest rate that would enable manufacturers to repay.

Other business association leaders who spoke to The ICIR were saddened over the slow pace in implementing the President’s policy statement to the manufacturers and MSMEs.

The president of the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), Femi Egbesola, said the reality is that the government has not been transparent about the intervention.

He said, “Some of our members were able to get that N50,000. But the question is, in today’s economy, what can the N50,000 do for a business?”

Egbesola, however, expressed concern that the next thing in line was supposed to be the disbursement of N5 million each to the SMEs, but none of his members have been able to access the fund.

He noted that thousands of his members have applied for the loan since last year, but none have been able to access it.

“I also want to believe that what is happening to our community here is what is happening in many other MSMEs, too, because even outside of our association, I have not heard from any others saying that they have accessed it.

“This has got us wondering what has happened to a policy statement the President made down in 2023, and this is almost mid-2025, and it has not yet seen the light of day,” Egbesola said.

He reasoned that businesses that were hitherto failing and dying in 2023, which the intervention fund was supposed to support, whether such businesses would still be in existence today if the intervention had not come.

Similarly, Saviour Iche, National President of AMEN, expressed skepticism about the programme’s transparency. He said that while the government frequently announces interventions, the business community often remains in the dark about how funds are allocated or accessed.

“They (government) will come on air and say one thing, and nobody cares. The information is in the public domain to deceive the gullible Nigerians.

“If such a loan has been given and somebody like me and other business association leaders are not aware, who then is supposed to be in the know?” he asserted.