SMEDAN unveils document for MSMEs market expansion

The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has unveiled SMEDAN SELECT to strengthen market for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) products.

Mr Olawale Fasanya, Director-General, SMEDAN, at the unveiling ceremony in Lagos, said the development would put Made in Nigeria products at the front burner.

Fasanya said that the document, which highlighted the profiles of made-in-Nigeria products, was one of the agency’s ways of supporting entrepreneurs across the country.

This development, he said, would ensure that the country achieved the MSMEs sub-sector of its dream in areas of job and wealth creation as well as poverty alleviation programme of the Federal Government.

Fasanya, represented by SMEDAN Director Enterprise Development and Promotion, Dr Monday Ewans, described the MSME sub-sector as a very important sub-sector in the Nigerian economy.

He noted that MSMEs collectively accounted for majority of the enterprises in Nigeria and also accounted for the highest number of jobs creation in the economy.

“The globalisation of businesses, including the recent wave of global industrial restructuring, has increasingly drawn MSMEs, especially those in sectors subject to strong globalisation forces, into global value chains through different types of cross-border activities.

“There is evidence that MSMEs with high-growth potential require early access to international markets to ensure their development and growth and this policy document would do justice to that,” he said.

Fasanya added that the Agency had concluded the review of the National Policy on MSMEs following the document’s approval by the Federal Executive Council (FEC).

He said that the implementation of the policy had commenced in earnest under the leadership of the National Council on MSMEs headed by the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.

He stated that a robust coordination mechanism for its implementation was being put in place, under a Public-Private-Dialogue (PPD) system, in partnership with various stakeholders on the platform of the Investment Climate Reform.

“I appeal to state governments that have not established their state councils on MSMEs to do so in partnership with the agency so that the benefits of the implementation reach the grassroots,” he said.

In his remarks, Director, Industrial Development, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Adewale Bakare, stressed the need for citizens to consume what was produced locally.

This, he said, would encourage all operators of locally made products and increase the contributions of MSME to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the country.

Mr Tony Muoboghare, Member, SMEDAN Information and Communication Technology, said the document had been uploaded on the SMEDAN website where all MSMEs products and contacts were updated to enhance patronage.

He said that the document would accommodate 500 MSME to showcase their international made in Nigeria products to markets all over the country.

One of the exhibitors, Mrs Khadijat Ajani, Director, Kadiz Afriq, commended the efforts of SMEDAN to enable MSMEs remain in business even in the face of high cost of raw materials and other factors of production.

Another exhibitor, Mrs Olubukola Shonde, said she had benefitted from SMEDAN via its various trainings and was able to expand her market at the just concluded international trade fair with free stand by SMEDAN.