Cross River State Government Wednesday signed a Matching Fund Collaboration of one billion naira (₦1Billion) with Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) for the Development of MSMEs in Cross River State.
The State Governor, Senator Bassey Otu made the commitment in Abuja when he hosted a delegation from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) led by Mr. Charles Odii, the Director General/ Chief Executive Officer.
The Governor maintained that his administration is committed to providing support for the growth and development of the new and existing MSMEs in the state through providing enterprise training, capacity building, business development support at the Cross River State Entrepreneurship Development Center (CRSEDC) and access to affordable finance, monitoring and evaluation.
He disclosed that Cross River State Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency (MEDA) will be the special purpose vehicle (SPV) to act as implementing agency on behalf of Cross River State Government.
The Director General/ Chief Executive Officer of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Mr. Charles Odii in his remarks, said the collaboration with the federal agency aims at harnessing a pool of resources and strengthening entrepreneurial development services by linking entrepreneurial training with finance for the overall development of Nano, Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Cross River State.
The Signing of the Memorandum of Understanding by the Governor had Mr. Great Ogban Usetu, the Director General, Cross River State Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency co-signed on behalf of the state, while the DG/ CEO, and the legal officer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Charles Odii and Mr Yusuf Salman respectively signed for SMEDAN.
