SMEDAN Faults MDAs Over MSMEs Stunted Growth

The Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) says poor coordination by government agencies is hindering the growth of the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

The agency said the growth and development of Nigeria rested squarely on a functional and efficient MSMEs sub-sector.

The Director-General of SMEDAN, Dikko Radda, stated these in Abuja on Friday during the train-the-trainers’ capacity workshop for the implementation of a new National Policy on MSMEs 2021-2025.

The training was part of the coordination mechanism provided by the Investment Climate Reform facility on effective implementation of the policy.

Radda said despite the contribution of the MSMEs to the Nigerian economy, it had become increasingly difficult for Ministries, Departments and Agencies to work together in developing the sector.

He said, “Putting in place an implementable policy is
critical but implementing it is far more critical. Overtime, it has become very difficult for MDAs to mutually work together in developing this very critical subsector.

Read More: Financing Gap for MSMEs Estimated at N617.3 Billion Annually Pre-Covid-19 – CBN

“What has happened is that different MDAs are doing different things that border on the MSMEs development without proper coordination.

“As an agency with the mandate to coordinate MSMEs development, it has become imperative that we must find ways and means to galvanise the various key players in the NMSMEs turf.”

According to him, the entire focus of the policy is to create a platform to collaboratively attend to some of the basic challenges of the sector, including the creation of more awareness about the policy at the grassroots level.

Director-General of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Victoria Akai, represented by a council member, Amina Akai, described the review of national MSMEs policy as a game changer to the business environment