Registration portal for MSMEs survival funds unavailable hours after it was scheduled to open

THE registration portal for the Federal Government’s post-COVID-19 stimulus packages for Micros, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) is still inaccessible hours after it was scheduled to be opened by the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, a check by The ICIR has revealed.

In a series of tweets earlier on Monday, the Federal Government had disclosed that the registration portal for the MSME Survival Fund would open at 10 pm, Monday, September 21, 2020.

It announced that when the portal opens at 10 pm, it will have educational institutions as the first category of beneficiaries to register.

At 10pm on Monday, the portal was also not available when The ICIR checked.

“As the portal for registration of prospective beneficiaries of #SurvivalFundNG opens today, interested Nigerians in the Payroll Support scheme are to note that the site will be open from 10 pm Monday, September 21, 2020,” the tweet read.

“REGISTRATION SCHEDULE: Registration for #PayrollSupport will start with educational institutions at 10 pm on Monday, Sept 21, 2020, and will be followed by businesses in the hospitality industry on Friday, September 25 beginning from 12 am.”

The portal will also be open to other categories of small businesses from 12 am, on Mon Sept 28, 2020. Note that the scheduling of registration for prospective beneficiaries is to ensure that the process is seamless & hitch-free. The Portal: http://survivalfund.ng.”

But when The ICIR visited the website at exactly 2:05 am, Tuesday, September, four hours after the scheduled opening, the registration portal was yet to be opened for Nigerians to apply for the package.

A popped up message asked the reporter to check back on Monday September, 21, 2020 at 10:00 pm

Source: ICIR