Nigeria’s commercial nerve centre, Kano, has secured a N10 billion intervention fund from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) via a consortium; Investment and Diaspora, in partnership with the Foreign Commonwealth Development (LINKS) and Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN).

The fund is meant to revive companies impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic in the state.

Speaking at the sensitization meeting on Kano Turnaround Project, on Monday, in Kano, the Director General of KanInvest & Diaspora, Hama Ali, said the programme, which was designed to revive companies that had been affected by COVID-19 pandemic, would target at least 50 companies.

She explained that the CBN initially donated N10 billion to the agency, for the project’s take-off, saying that the apex bank had agreed to also increase the fund.

Ms. Ali added that the agency would interface with the affected industries, to collect the needed information and determine ways to support them.

“We and our development partners came up with this initiative in order to support our affected industries, because it is worrisome to see our industries in this condition.

“Our agency has produced an Expression of Interest (EoI) form for interested companies, and that the deadline for the submission of applications is February 25.

“Our doors will be open to any company, until the application reaches at least fifty, from then we will see if they can exhaust the N10 billion or not,” she explained.

The President of MAN, Mansur Ahmed, tasked the state government and other stakeholders to bring back the lost glory of Kano in industrialization, saying that about 50 percent of industries in Kano had either reduced their production capacity or closed down completely due to COVID-19 and other issues.

He, therefore, called for collaborative efforts to revive the industries in Kano, noting that it would be an effective way to provide job opportunities for the youth in the state, as well as bring peace and harmony.

Earlier, governor Abdullahi Ganduje expressed happiness about the project, stressing that his administration had come up with various programmes aimed at boosting small scale industries in the state.

He pointed out that industries in Kano were crippled by the activities of smugglers, and technology advancement, in which the country was lagging behind.

NAN