The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) has promised to partner Business Membership Organizations, (BMO) for effective coordination of the activities of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria.
SMEDAN Director-General (DG), Dr Dikko Umaru-Radda, said this on Wednesday in Ilorin in his address of welcome at the 2021 MSME support Organisation Dialogue.
The DG was represented by Mrs Charity Abah, Coordinator, North Central zone of the agency.
The theme of the dialogue was: “MSME Support Organizations Synergize towards Effective Coordination of MSME Activities in Nigeria”.
According to the DG, to ensure a seamless development of the MSME sub-sector in Nigeria, the dialogue would provide a veritable platform for brain-storming exchange of ideas, knowledge and experience sharing, peer review and dissemination of new research findings.
“At the end of this programme, we hope to have come up with key design and improvement articulations which will be shared and discuss with the MSME Stakeholders for effective coordination of the activities of the Nigerian MSMEs.
“SMEDAN is desirous of entering into a new strategic partnership with the MSME support organizations and Business Membership Organizations at both the private and public sectors to enhance the operational efficiency of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country.
“With this partnership, SMEDAN will work synergistically with these organizations to reposition the MSMEs for national, continental and global competitiveness, especially with the take-off of the Africa Continental Free Trade Area Agreement.
“The overall output of this renewed partnership would be geared towards meeting the yearnings of the MSMEs across Nigeria; this is a partnership that we are very eager to bring to fruition,” he said.
The DG said Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises sub-sector was considered the engine of socio-economic transformation globally.
“The sub-sector can generate more jobs than any other, create wealth and reduce the prevalence of poverty, youth restiveness if property harnessed and coordinated.
“It would stimulate and trigger wide-spread economic growth and development, improve per capital income, and step up capacity utilization in key industries.
“As part of our mandate, SMEDAN has developed many programmes to ease access to basic needs of MSMEs in Nigeria, Umaru-Radda said.
He listed the target participants of the dialogue as MSMEs Support Organizations at the private and public sectors, regulatory agencies, Business Membership Organizations, State Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the small business operators.
The DG added that the initiative was conceived as a platform to bring together major stakeholders in MSMEs ecosystem to discuss challenges inhibiting the growth and development of MSME.
This, he said was with a view to repositioning the sub-sector to thrive despite the economic recession and post COVID-19 pandemic challenges.
According to the DG said the dialogue would discussed the challenges confronting MSME development in Nigeria and find ways to leverage on public-private partnership for synergy towards MSME development.
He also said it would endeavour chart new working relationship between the MSME Support Organisations and the Business Membership Organisations: of the federal and states.
The dialogue, according to the DG, would enhance the effectiveness Government MSME Support Organisations for better service delivery and sensitize the MSMEs on the takeoff of the African Continental.
Participants in the dialogue were drawn from Kwara, Niger state, Benue State, Kogi and Plateau state.
