The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) says small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) have started accessing the N5 billion single-digit interest rate loan it secured from Sterling Bank.

However, SMEDAN said some SMEs are facing hurdles in meeting the bank’s eligibility criteria, and support is being offered to help overcome these challenges.

According to Charles Odii, director-general of SMEDAN on Tuesday, he met Abubakar Suleiman, Sterling Bank’s managing director, on Monday to address the issues.

Odii said the bank attributed the difficulties to issues with formalisation and other factors affecting eligibility.

“Yesterday, I met with Sterling Bank MD/CEO, and other officials to discuss the SMEDAN-Sterling loan program, which offers ₦5 billion to small businesses at a single-digit interest rate to increase access to finance,” he posted on X.

“While disbursements have been made and are ongoing, I raised concerns we received about the application process and difficulties some have faced in reaching the disbursement stage.

“The bank explained issues with formalization and other factors that prevented some businesses from meeting their eligibility criteria.

“We agreed on an action plan to address this, including continuous updates to the digital platform for a seamless experience, support for applicants who failed the eligibility test to address the responsible factors, and providing clear answers to applicants’ questions online or at bank branches.

“Our shared goal remains to support small businesses and ensure the loan opportunity is fully maximised for business growth.”

Odii said the agency will contact successful applicants to monitor their progress and offer tailored support to ensure the opportunity is fully leveraged.

On November 22, SMEDAN signed an agreement with Sterling Bank to provide N5 billion loan facility to small businesses across the country.

President Bola Tinubu has suspended the 0.5 percent cybersecurity levy after criticism trailed the announcement.

Mohammed Idris, minister of information and national orientation, announced the suspension after the federal executive council (FEC) meeting on Tuesday.

Idris said Tinubu directed the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to suspend the implementation and review the modalities for its implementation.

On May 6, the CBN introduced the cybersecurity levy, mandating all banks, mobile money operators, and payment service providers to commence implementation in two weeks.

The levy was part of the Cybercrime (prohibition, prevention, etc) (Amendment) Act 2024, which approved a 0.5 percent levy on the value of all electronic transactions to be collected and remitted to the national cybersecurity fund, overseen by the office of the national security adviser (NSA).

Idris said the cybersecurity levy was thoroughly discussed at the FEC meeting, adding that the president is not insensitive to the feelings of Nigerians.

On May 9, the house of representatives asked the CBN to withdraw the directive to financial institutions.

The green chamber passed the resolution for CBN to withdraw the directive during a plenary session, following the adoption of a motion sponsored by Kingsley Chinda, a house minority leader, and 359 other lawmakers.

“This act has led to apprehension as civil society organisations and citizens have taken to conventional and social media to call out the federal government, give ultimatums for a reversal of the ‘imposed levy on Nigerians’ among other things,” Chinda said.

During the plenary session, the lawmakers said the circular was ambiguous.

The naira depreciated to N1,520 per dollar at the parallel section of the foreign exchange (FX) market on Monday.

This signifies a 3.4 percent decline from the N1,470/$ traded on May 10.

The bureau de change (BDC) operators, popularly known as street traders, put the buying price of the dollar at N1,490 and the selling price at N1,520 — leaving a profit margin of N30.

At the official window, the local currency depreciated by 0.80 percent against the dollar to close at N1,478.11 on Monday — from the N1,466.31 traded on May 10.

According to FMDQ Securities Exchange, a platform that oversees official FX trading in Nigeria, an exchange rate of N1,490 to the dollar was the highest rate recorded during trading and the lowest rate was N1,322/$.

Meanwhile, Olayemi Cardoso, governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), on Monday, said the apex bank had been “reoriented” to focus on price and monetary stability.

Cardoso said the official FX market has been stabilised.

According to the governor, investors previously had a “tendency to head for the window” in response to currency fluctuations, however, there has been a “fundamental shift”.

Cardoso said investors are getting more comfortable with the official window.