Stakeholders responsible for the promotion and expansion of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria are soliciting for capacity building, and access to funding for business as a means of facilitating economic growth of the nation.
At the weekend in Abuja, stakeholders participating in the National MSMEs conference 2024 organised by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) identified some challenges hindering the growth of small businesses in the country.
They emphasised the role of MSMEs in the development and growth of the economy, stating that small businesses are the engine of the economy.
Speaking at the conference, the Executive Director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) Nonye Ayeni, restated the importance for MSMEs to engage in capacity building and value addition in product for exports.
She said “we need to build capacity, understand the rudiments of the game, ensure standards, think value addition, build financial muscle and work with institutions that will help us access funding.
“We need to work in clusters, pull resources to strengthen your capabilities, get connected to agencies that can groom businesses on the requirement for exports.
”The market is there but consistency is what is required. So business in Nigeria must scale up production to be able to scale through,” Ayeni said.
Also speaking at the conference, the Managing Director of Nigeria Export Import Bank (NEXIM), Abba Bello noted that funding is a big challenge for businesses in the country.
He stated that to scale up businesses, MSMEs must reorganise the importance of working together as a team to ensure that they are well structured for capacity empowerment.
He said, “With that, we start reducing the risk factor. But beyond the SMEs, there are also risks that are associated with export on its own.
“We have identified that, there are production, capacity and standardisation challenges associated with exports.
“And working together with other agencies and governments, NEXIM has tried to see how we can mitigate those challenges to enable MSMEs to operate smoothly across the globe.”
On his part, the Comptroller-General, Nigeria Customs Service (NCS), Bashir Adeniyi reaffirmed the crucial role of MSMEs sector in economic growth.
He, therefore, urged stakeholders in both public and the private sector MSMEs capacity expansion for national development.
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