Nigeria Battles Covid-19 With New Small Business Support Fund

(Bloomberg) — Nigeria will help cushion small business owners impacted by the coronavirus with grants from a 75 billion naira ($195.5 million) fund, its trade and investment ministry said.

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A young woman wearing a hijab carries goods on her head as she walks through Orange Market in Mararaba, Nigeria, on Tuesday, Sept. 1, 2020. By the end of the year, as many as 12,000 people globally could die a day from hunger linked to Covid-19, potentially more than those perishing from the virus itself, charity Oxfam International estimates.

Close to a million people are expected to benefit from credit support to meet payroll obligations, fulfill official registration requirements and improve their operations hampered by Covid-19-related disruptions, according to a statement on the website of the ministry.

At least 45% of the beneficiaries will be businesses run by women, with another 5% reserved for people with special needs, the ministry said. The funds will be drawn from President Muhammadu Buhari’s 2.3 trillion naira virus stimulus package.

Almost half of Nigeria’s 200 million population fall among the poor who suffered more from the economic impact of the coronavirus.

(Corrects stimulus amount in third paragraph)

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