Vice President Kashim Shettima has directed the expansion of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Stakeholders’ Meeting to give business owners greater participation in government policies and decisions affecting the sector.

Shettima also directed that the meeting should hold quarterly, with each session reviewing decisions taken at the previous meeting to ensure accountability and implementation.

The Vice President gave the directives on Friday during a stakeholders’ meeting at the State House, Abuja, where he called for stronger collaboration between the government and the private sector to promote business growth.

He commended the Special Adviser to the President on MSMEs and Job Creation, Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, for his commitment to the sector, stressing that small businesses support millions of Nigerian households through employment, education and healthcare.

Shettima said President Bola Tinubu’s administration had approved 200 billion naira in business support, comprising 50 billion naira in grants, 75 billion naira in loans for MSMEs and another 75 billion naira for manufacturing.

He added that eligible manufacturers could access loans of up to one billion naira through the Bank of Industry to help businesses overcome economic challenges and expand their operations.