Nigeria needs new policies to drive MSMEs growth

Stakeholders in the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) subsector have called on the government to enact new policies that will drive the growth of small business operators in the country.

The stakeholders made the call at the just concluded ANDE West Africa regional conference held in Lagos.

“What I want the government to do more is to focus on policy formulation because there are policies constraining certain things from happening in the SMEs space,” Peter Bamkole, executive director, Enterprise Development Centre (EDC) of Pan-Atlantic University and chairman of steering committee, Aspen Network of Development Entrepreneurs (ANDE) West Africa said in a press statement made available to BusinessDay.

“We would like to work with the government in the area of policy for the ease of doing business to get better for businesses,” he said.

He stated that MSMEs are the driving force of the economy today as they contribute 50 per cent to the country’s Gross Domestic Product, noting that the entrepreneurial ecosystem is growing at a geometric level but is still limited by the challenges of doing business in the country.

The stakeholders reflected on some of the challenges that have been experienced over the last few years and also discussed potential opportunities that actors in the ecosystem should prepare for.

“One of the challenges I saw before founding EDC was the inability for entrepreneurs to be able to grow and find the kind of support and funding required. Finance is still a big challenge for entrepreneurs.

“Entrepreneurs have the capacity to spot opportunities within their environment very quickly, and they have this level of opportunity to provide values. Without entrepreneurs, without SMEs, the economy would stagnate and that’s why these people are very important,” he added.

Bamkole urged the federal government to create policies that would address the challenges of doing business for entrepreneurs and SMEs in Nigeria.

Also speaking during the event, , Anna Samake, CEO of MBC Africa, said that nothing has really changed in the challenges being faced in the ecosystem in the past 15 years, stressing that this is a serious concern.

“I have dealt with entrepreneurs from many perspectives as a business developing person, which I started my career with, on how to help entrepreneurs in developing strategies, especially in the agric business. I have been in the banking business as well because these entrepreneurs are having difficulties in accessing finance from banks,” Samake added.

Devin Chesney, ANDE director of strategic development and Olatunji Ajani, ANDE West Africa manager, also stressed the commitment of ANDE to bridging the gaps in the entrepreneurial ecosystem through the entrepreneurial ecosystem snapshots initiative and other ecosystem building initiative.

The two day event ended on the note that the government of various West African countries and Nigeria in particular needs to create policies that would address the challenges of doing business for entrepreneurs and also work together to enhance trade within the region.

Josephine Okojie