The Federal Government yesterday said the various policies rolled out to contain COVID- 19 in the country would save about five millions jobs and create more post-pandemic jobs. Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Otunba Adeniyi Adebayo, said plans were underway to save about 1.4 million jobs of Nigerians, with 40 per cent of them in female-owned MSMEs and 10 per cent in businesses belonging to people with special needs. Adebayo disclosed this in a statement signed by his Special Assistant on Media and Publicity, Mr Julius Toba-Jegede. The Minister noted that the move was part his ministry’s input in playing a leading role in the Federal Government’s delivery of real sector interventions of its Economic Sustainability Plan in the wake of the global pandemic. To achieve these, he gave an overview of three programmes as; The MSME Survival Fund, The Guaranteed Offtake Stimulus Scheme and the Credit Support to MSMEs and Priority Sector. “These interventions will save and create about five million jobs, support continued operations and increase in production capacity in priority sectors and protect MSMEs from the shocks of the COVID-19 pandemic. ””We expect that the Survival Fund will save 1.4 million jobs across the country with 40 per cent of them in the femaleowned MSMEs and 10 per cent in businesses owned by persons with special needs. ”The Guaranteed Offtatake Stimulus Scheme’s objective is to protect jobs, stimulate economic activities across the country and protect the income of vulnerable MSMEs by guaranteeing offtake of items produced by these businesses. The scheme will save an additional 300,000 jobs in MSMEs nationwide.
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