History was made today in the ancient city of Kano as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and the Kano State Government (KNSG) signed a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF) deal.

The MOU was signed at an impressive ceremony at the Government House under the watchful eyes of Governor Rabiu Musa Kwankwaso.

CBN Governor, Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, a Kano Prince, signed on behalf of the apex bank while the Commissioner for Budget & Planning, Yusuf Bello Danbatta, signed on behalf of KNSG.

In his remarks, Sanusi, dressed in his princely robes, praised the Kwankwaso administration for its giant strides, saying: “I must tell you I am always delighted to come to Kano because anytime I come I see something new in terms of developmental projects.” He spoke of CBN’s eagerness to partner with the administration to fast-track the development of the state using various vehicles, among them the N220 MSMEDF launched August 15 in Abuja, the Nigerian capital.

Meanwhile, the CBN Governor has decried the dismal level of financial literacy among Nigerians and called for concerted efforts aimed at developing necessary framework to educate the people on what he described as an important developmental issue.

The apex Bank Governor, while speaking yesterday at the Second North East Economic Summit in Gombe, noted that financial derivatives such as pension and insurance must be taken very seriously as part of economic empowerment strategy.

According to him, these financial derivatives should not be misconstrued as only designed for certain category of the populace; rather, they have a lot of potentials to serve as catalyst for savings and raising capital for economic development.

Sanusi also cautioned that inasmuch as finance remained key in resolving the developmental challenges, it was not the total solution. He reiterated that other issues like functional infrastructure, appropriate tariff regime, and reliable legal system must also be in place for businesses to thrive.

He concluded by calling on government at all levels to focus on the provision of those critical infrastructure which small businesses are unable to provide on their own.

Delivering the lead paper at the summit, Dr. Shamsudeen Usman, immediate past Minister of National Planning, called for a Marshal Plan of some sort for the development of North East region of the country in view of the enormity of the challenges confronting the zone.

The summit was declared open by President Goodluck Ebele Jonathan and attended by several ministers, legislators, members of the Diplomatic Corps, captains of industry, local and investors.

•Photo shows Gov Sanusi speaking at the signing of the MSME Dev Fund MOU with the Kano State Government . . . today in Kano.

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