NCGC’ll unlock access to credit for women, SMEs

The Director General of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, (LCCI) Dr Chinyere Almona has said the government’s plan to establish the National Credit Guarantee Company (NCGC) is a step toward unlocking access to credit, particularly for women, youth, and small-scale enterprises.

Almona who made this statement in her new year speech said if the credit scheme implemented effectively and efficiently, it can boost demand for goods from agro-producers and industries, as well as improve the capacity utilization of manufacturers and the capacity to create more jobs in the mid-term.

She, however, emphasize the need for swift operationalization and a transparent framework to avoid bureaucratic bottlenecks.

She stated that the President Tinubu’s desire to work more collaboratively with the international community is a good idea.

She further said that for Nigeria to really explore inherent opportunities in international relations, “we must do more to create an enabling business environment attractive enough to boost our Foreign Direct Investments this year.

“All our diplomatic efforts should be geared towards boosting foreign trade, especially when we can boost our non-oil exports to the levels of recording trade surpluses in 2025.

“We need critical investments in the telecommunications sector to boost the digital transformation agenda of this government.”

She pointed out that the Compressed Natural Gas (CNG) initiative requires huge investment in infrastructure, adding that both digital transformation and energy transition are quite critical to achieving the level of industrialization required to power a one trillion economy.