How small businesses can benefit from NBCC-DCSL MSME Centre

Nigeria has 37 million micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs). A 2013 National MSME survey undertaken by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) shows that this set of business contributes 48 percent to the country’s gross domestic product (GDP) and creates 60 million jobs for Nigerians.

However, the capacity utilisation of MSMEs in Nigeria is still less than 50 percent, owing to challenges such as infrastructure bottlenecks, funding and capacity gaps, poor market information, excess and multiple taxation, among others.

In response to these challenges, the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce has launched the NBCC-DCSL MSME Centre with a view to strengthening the capacity of small businesses in Africa’s most populous country.
The centre does not intend to solve the infrastructure challenge facing MSMEs, which is the prerogative of the government, but is intended to support small businesses to acquire the required capacity, market information, funding, and partnership needed for growth.

The DCSL-MSME Centre is a partnership between the chamber and the DCSL Corporate Services Limited with a view to harnessing the potential of small and medium businesses.
Adedapo Adelegan, president of the Nigerian-British Chamber of Chamber, said at a press conference in Lagos that the centre was established to enable MSMEs reach their goals.
“Half of our members are MSMEs. The chamber understands the challenges of SMEs. One of the greatest challenges they face is lack of power. Without power, a lot of businesses, which are the core of the economy, cannot thrive,” Adelegan said.
He said the NBCC affords members within SME category the opportunity to have access to large enterprises by putting them in a proper structure.
He added that the current economic recession bedevilling Nigeria compels MSMEs to restructure and tap into equity, urging small business owners to bring in investors, rather than hold onto their enterprises tightly.
In an interview, Bisi Adeyemi, managing director, DCSL Corporate Services Limited, who is also the treasurer of the NBCC, said the basic problem facing MSMEs is capacity, not really finance.
“What this centre is trying to do is that, as an SME, you will be able to come here and seek professional advice for every aspect of your business, ranging from access to finance, preparation of business plan, recruitment of staff, audit of account and the like. This is because as an SME, you cannot afford to go by yourself to meet one of the big four. So we want to support MSMEs to bring the fees down. We can take advantage of synergy with the Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce to bring the fees down,” Adeyemi said.
“The greatest challenge facing MSMEs is the lack of structure. They do not have the structure and most of the times, it is lack of knowledge as well. They are unaware that with just a little bit of effort and training, they will do things that they have never thought possible,” she stated.