CENTRAL
BANK OF NIGERIA
The
Central Bank of Nigeria in August,
2014 launched the CBN N220 Billion Micro
Small & Medium Enterprise Development Fund (MSMEDF) to provide fund to
eligible enterprise through Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) such as
Deposit Money Banks, Microfinance Banks, NGO-MFIs and Financial Cooperatives.
The objective of the Fund is to channel low interest funds to the MSME
sub-sector of the Nigerian economy through PFIs.
It
has however come to the attention of the Central Bank of Nigeria that some
unscrupulous persons/organizations are parading themselves as PFI’s under the
MSMEDF and defrauding unsuspecting members of the public by extorting money
under the pretense of assisting them to access the CBN N220 Billion Micro Small
& Medium Enterprise Development Fund (MSMEDF)
Reports
reaching the Bank indicate that these unscrupulous elements extort money
ranging from N1,500 to N50,000 from their unsuspecting victims by asking them
to pay the said sums for membership fees and procurement of all manner of forms
as pre-condition and/or guarantee for securing loans from the Fund.
The
Central Bank of Nigeria wishes to inform the general public that at no time did
it authorize or appoint any agent to sell forms or collect any fee to access
the MSMEDF or indeed any of its intervention Funds. For the avoidance of doubt, the CBN has not appointed anyone to act as
an agent to facilitate access to the MSMEDF.
The public is therefore advised
to beware of the activities of fraudsters and report anyone/organization that
approaches them to pay on the pretence that they would assist them access the
MSMEDF or any of the Bank’s intervention funds to the law enforcement agencies.
The
Public is also advised to contact the Director, Development Finance Department,
CBN, on 0946238600 or any
Development Finance Office in the CBN Branches nearest to them for information
regarding any of the Bank’s intervention funds.
Signed
Ibrahim
Mu’azu
Director,
Corporate Communication Department
February,
2016
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