Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga, has said that the Federal Government has set aside N15 billion in the Bank of Industry to be given as loan for the development of small medium enterprises in the country.

The minister stated this in Ado-Ekiti, Ekiti State, at the closing ceremony of economic and investment summit organised by the state government as part of activities marking the one year anniversary of Governor Kayode Fayemi.

The former minister of finance said the fund raised by the Federal Government and wealthy individuals, including Alhaji Aliko Dangote, whom he said donated N5 billion to the fund, is meant for the development of small and  medium enterprises and would attract five per cent interest rates.

Describing the small scale enterprise as the “greatest and biggest” employers of labour in the country, he said the sector employs at least 75 percent of the people, adding that no fewer than 11 million of such businesses operate in the country and employ over 75 per cent of total population.

He stated: “We will be promoting that heavily across the states but I am going to start by correcting some of the imbalance we have. For example, we import plumbers, electricians and other artisans from Togo, a neighbouring African country but they are not as good as we want them to be.”

Mr. Aganga also expressed the determination of the Federal Government to grow the economy from the areas where the country has comparative advantage.

Such areas, the minister noted include agric; agro allied; oil and gas; solid minerals, stating that the government would also enforce strictly the ban on importation of rice in the next three years.

He regretted that the country had not been able to make meaningful impact in the area of agriculture with the 80 million hectares of land available for farming since only half of it is presently being utilised.

To ensure the effectiveness of the ban of imported rice, he said the Federal Government would encourage local production of the commodity by encouraging local farmers and graduates to take into rice cultivation.

Aganga said that the Federal Government is to establish a Trade and Investment Council with Australia to enable her invest in Oil and Gas and agriculture.

The minister also explained that his ministry is working assiduously on how to establish a Trade Fair with the Republic of Rwanda on Information Technology to make more Nigerian youths have access to training and expertise in technology.