CBN’s N220 Billion MSME Development Fund- How to Access it.

Finally, the Central Bank of Nigeria has published the procedure for accessing the fund. Find text below.

1.0 Is your business in any of the following areas?
. Agriculture
. Manufacturing
. Cottage Industries
. Artisanship
. Services
. Trade and general Commerce
. Renewable energy/energy efficient products and technologies
. Other income generating projects as may be prescribed by the CBN

2.0 If “Yes”….
2.1 Prepare your business plan or statement on how much you want for your business
2.2. You can get loan of up to:
(a) N500,000.00 for your micro-business; and
(b). N50 million for Small & Medium Enterprise (SME)

2.3. Go to your bank or any of the following institutions to access the Fund:
. Microfinance Banks
. Commercial Banks
. Cooperatives
. Finance Companies
. NGO-Microfinance Institutions
. Development Finance Institutions, i.e. Bank of Industry and Bank of Agriculture

3.0. Tell your bank how much you need

4.0. Your bank will discuss your request and provide you the money
4.1 The maximum interest rate of 9.0% p.a (charges inclusive) is applicable to all loans

5.0. Period for the repayment of the loan:
a) For micro business, it is a maximum of one year
b). For small and medium enterprises, it is a maximum of three years

NOTE: 60% of the Fund is reserved for enterprises owned by women; 2% for persons living with disability and 10% for start-up businesses.

There have been reports of bank branches claiming ignorance of the fund. In that eventuality or for more information, please send e-mail:
msmedf@cbn.gov.ng

-Source: CENBANK

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HBD Mr. President | TAN | Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria Supporting.

Dr. Goodluck Jonathan is the President and Commander-in-Chief of the Armed Forces of the Federal Republic of Nigeria since 2010. He served as Governor of Bayelsa State from 2005 to 2007 and as Vice President from 2007 to 2010.

His story is the Nigerian story — strong family values, dedication to duty, service to others, hard work and education as the means of getting ahead. Born to a modest family of canoe makers, he worked hard in life and earned a PhD degree in Zoology from the University of Port Harcourt. Before he entered politics in 1998, he worked as an education inspector, lecturer, and environmental-protection officer. President Jonathan has an unwavering conviction that a life so blessed should be lived in service to others and he has demonstrated strong leadership qualities through various initiatives in Nigeria.

In 2011, President Jonathan launched the Transformation Agenda to refocus the nation and develop critical infrastructures and processes that will help unlock opportunities and growth in Africa’s largest economy. Also, President Jonathan launched the Youth Enterprise with Innovation in Nigeria (YouWin) Initiative which is an innovative business plan competition that harnesses the creative energies of young people between the ages of 18 and 35. The YouWin Initiative is expected to create between 40,000 to 50,000 sustainable jobs by 2014.

After rebasing in April 2014, the economy of Nigeria was calculated to be worth $510 billion, far more than previous estimate of $292 billion and surpassing South Africa's $353 billion. This makes it the largest economy in Africa. Also, the new figures lifted Nigeria’s GDP per capital substantially to $2,689, up from a previous estimate of $1,555. Yet, Mr. President remains committed that he can continue to grow this economy at 7-9% annually despite its relative huge size. In January 2014, he launched the most important industrial road map in decades with the Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan to industrialize Nigeria by building capabilities in light manufacturing, agro-processing and modern technologies.

A lover of education, President Jonathan has made it possible that federal universities are in all states of the Federation to ensure that youths have access and proximity to get quality and affordable education. He is facilitating infrastructural projects in railways, bridges and pioneering a new model of governance that brings the private sector into partnerships with governments to build a greater Nation.

 Mr. President is married to the amiable First Lady of the Nation, Dame Patience Jonathan, and they are blessed with children.

Source: Transformation Ambassadors of Nigeria 
...akacoms.com | be informed to perform...

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Nigeria: NIMC Announces Successful Test-run of National Electronic Identity Project

The National Identity Management Commission (NIMC) has successfully test-run the national electronic Identity (eID) Public Key Infrastructure (PKI).

The test-run was carried out at its head office in Abuja.
The PKI provides the framework of services; technology, protocols and standards that enable the deployment and management of a strong information security system based on public key cryptography.

Speaking on the significance of the experiment before board members of NIMC, management staff and the Vendors, Cryptovision,   Director General of NIMC, Chris Onyemenam,  said: "It lies in the fact that it is a process that will be leading up to the personalisation and issuance of a secure National ID card. It is one step closer in the process to the issuance of national identity card that will be recognised and generally accepted globally.”

The Brand Manager, Cryptovision, Mr. Adam Ross, explained that security had been embedded in the card at every level. “First of all, the chip being delivered is the most modern travel card operating platform that enables it to be used for multiple purposes which has a very high level of security” he said, adding, “The key document or private key information that is stored in the chip is protected by hardware. So the chip itself prevents the card from being accessed by anyone else except the card holder.”

Cryptovision, which specialises in technology security is supplying background infrastructure and providing the security structures in the card to validate the document integrity, prevent it from being forged or copied, enable very advanced electronic usage  and secure authentication to websites.

The National Identity PKI consists of a self-assigned root Certificate Authority (CA) and a trusted Registration and subordinate Certificate Authority (RA and CA) owned and administered by NIMC.

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NIRA decries Nigeria $2m lost to foreign domain name registration

The Internet Registration Council of Nigeria (NIRA) is worried at the amount of money Nigeria loses to offshore registration of domain names such as org, net, com among other. In a figure released by NIRA, 300,000 Nigerian websites are registered on different domains that are renewed every year with N1, 000, which brings the amount to N300m (about $2m).
90 percent of Nigerian contents are hosted abroad which results in capital flight, but NIRA while speaking at a two-day Forum with the theme: ‘Sustaining Local Internet Content, the way forward for Nigeria’ through its Chief Operating Officer, Opeoluwa Odusan said they have simplified the process of registration on the country’s top-level domain name .ng through elimination of registrars.

“Direct registration has been reduced to N15, 00 so as to facilitate increased Nigerian content on the Internet, the hosting of such content, locally, and an increased adoption of .ng as the domain name of choice, particularly among Nigerians,” said Odusan.

The two days forum was designed to sensitive stakeholders and the general public on the significance of local Internet content, Nigerians identity on cyberspace, and the emerging relevance of local hosting of content which has a multiplier effect on the economy through capacity building, and job creation.

NIRA was founded on March 23, 2005 as a stakeholder led organization, charged with the management of the nation's CountryTop Level Domain Name (ccTLD), dot ng.

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MTN Nigeria halts SIM swap by proxy

Lagos –  Mr Akinwale Goodluck, the Corporate Services Executive of MTN Nigeria, has announced the decision of the company to discontinue SIM swaps by proxy with effect from June 7.
Goodluck said this in a statement made available on Thursday in Lagos.
He said that after June 7, customers who wished to swap or replace their SIM cards as a result of their phones being stolen, destroyed or misplaced must do so in person.
According to him, the decision was taken in order to protect customers’ data and preserve the overall integrity of the SIM swap process.
“In recent months, unscrupulous elements have started to exploit the proxy SIM swap process and there have been incidents of unauthorised people fraudulently obtaining SIM cards belonging to others.
“The implication of this decision is that customers will now have to appear in person at the service outlets nearest to them to request and obtain new SIM cards.

“Such requests will be treated promptly after proper ID validation from the SIM registration database and upon presentation of valid identification such as ID card, international passport or driver’s licence,” he said.
Goodluck added that the customer would also be required to answer security questions before a new SIM card would be issued.

He also called on the company’s subscribers to urgently register their SIMs in view of the June 30 deadline or risk suspension of their mobile lines.
Goodluck urged customers to register all SIM cards in their possession including those in phones, laptops, POS machines and all other SIM-enabled devices.

Mr Akin Braithwaite, the Customer Relations Executive of MTN, said that the organisation attached great seriousness to the issue of customer and data security.

Braithwaite said that a significant number of SIM swap-related fraud were committed by people who were very close to the victims and had access to their personal data.
He said that the new requirement that customers should carry out the SIM swaps in person would check the activities of fraudsters in this regard.

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