The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria has mandated the submission of Corporate Affairs Commission certificate and the FIRS Tax Identification Number as a compulsory requirement for applicant to obtain the N5 billion credit loan.

The Head of Corporate Affairs, Moshood Lawal, stated this in a statement. 

He said the agency has reviewed the selection process of beneficiaries for a N5 billion credit facility allotted meant for small businesses in the country.

He added that submission of CAC certificate and tax identification number was needed to identify fake applicants and ensure the funds is given to the right persons.

He said, “Concerning the N5 billion loan for small businesses, We have developed an app and it is ready now. We are now taking submissions via the software application. Everyone is expected to download it, put in their business plan and every other detail. Then, they would be evaluated on the app. 

“We had to move to an app to avoid human interference because almost everyone had a brother or a sister who tried to influence the process. So, it is better to register via the application, upload the Corporate Affairs Commission certificate, Tax Identification Number and other necessary documents. Once that process is fulfilled, the request will be evaluated and those qualified will get a reply immediately but if we had continued with former procedure, the process may be influenced.

“We also noticed that most applicants do not have their CAC certificate and that is a very important document to be submitted. Some persons have claimed not to have these certificate but we have insisted that it would be a very important criteria to receive the loan or they would be ineligible. We have promised to be transparent about this initiative and that promise will be kept.”

When asked about the status of applicants who had registered earlier, Moshood explained that those applicants must start the process again using the newly developed app in order to be considered for disbursement.

“Everyone that initially applied for the grant would have to do it again. During the former procedure, they were not asked serious questions, they were only told to register but now we are asking specific questions on how the money will be utilised, the business turnover per month. It is via those questions we will be able to sort out real businessmen and fake ones.