As the Buhari administration ramps up COVID-19 interventions in the MSMEs sector under the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP), a total of 238, 868 individuals from 41,726 businesses have so far been paid various sums under the Payroll Support component of the ESP, as at December 8, 2020.
The update compiled by the Project Delivery Office (PDO) indicates that disbursements to approved Payroll Support beneficiaries which commenced on 17th November 2020 is progressing well with 2.6% of the beneficiaries representing persons with special needs while a 43% coverage of female employees/beneficiaries has also been achieved in line with the project objective.
A further breakdown of the beneficiaries indicate that 211, 347 persons have received N30, 000 under the scheme while 53, 347 others were paid N50, 000.
More beneficiaries will be added to the payroll as soon as enumerators complete the verification of data submitted by the MSMEs.
For the Transport track launched across states in the country on 30th November 2020, the PDO is currently receiving lists of prospective beneficiaries from identified associations and State focal persons as enumeration will commence as soon as synchronization is achieved between the PDO and stakeholders.
The lead identified associations under this track include, the National Union of Road Transport Workers (NURTW); Road Transport Employers' Association of Nigeria (RTEAN); Nigerian Association of Road Transport Owners (NARTO), and National Commercial Tricycle/ Motorcycle Owners and Riders Association (NACTOMORAS).
The Artisan track being implemented in streams, is also progressing satisfactorily with the commencement of enumeration of prospective beneficiaries in States that fall under the third stream. The enumeration for stream 3 started on November 30th, 2020 in Akwa-Ibom, Cross-River, Zamfara, Yobe, Sokoto, Nasarawa, Niger, Imo, Oyo, Osun, Jigawa, Gombe and Benue States.
The Formalization Support Track for 250, 000 new businesses which commenced on 26th October 2020 is also ongoing with aggregators (CAC registration agents) registering prospective beneficiaries across the 36 states and the FCT at the same time.
This scheme is ongoing and will run for a period of 3 months effective from the date of commencement. Any state whose quota is met before the expiration of the three-month time will be automatically closed.
Applicants are once again advised not to patronize middlemen or pay any sum to be enlisted on any of the schemes as selection of beneficiaries will continue to be on a first come first serve basis.
Tola Adekunle Johnson
Special Assistant to the President on MSMEs
Office of the Vice President
& Coordinator, Project Delivery Office (PDO)