Osinbajo calls for collaboration among MMSEs, donor agencies
Dec 2, 2015 15:45:51 GMT
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Post by Deleted on Dec 2, 2015 15:45:51 GMT
By Levinus Nwabughiogu
ABUJA – Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday in Abuja called for effective collaboration among the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the donor agencies and the public sector for easy access to funds.
He said that lack of synergy has denied the enterprises a lot of opportunities to expand.
Osinbajo’s charged was contained in his address to the 2015 National MSMEs Summit with the theme “Entrepreneurship for National Development: The Place of MSMEs in the Economy Under the Change Agenda,’’ in Abuja.
“We need a very effective monitoring and evaluation so that we can then address where exactly the gaps and the shortfalls are.
“But today, it is evident that the programmes are there; it is evident that the resources are there; it is also evident that the entrepreneurs are there; those who want to get engaged are there.
“But we need to make that very important link between the two.”
Osinbajo linked the challenges to lack of accountability and accuracy in the number of beneficiaries.
“I think it is very important going forward that all those in the public sector to sit together and work out a way by which we are able to actually measure all the deliverables in this sector.
“For instance, we know we are supposed to fund a certain number of people; who are these people; can we verify them; how much are they getting.
“In what ways are their performances measurable and how do we measure their performances”, he said.
The Vice president further advised participants and the entrepreneurs to use the Summit to advance the course of business and address the economic challenges in the country.
He stated that the government of President Mohammadu Buhari was determined restructure the public sector for effective service delivery and job creation.
Also addressing the Summit, the Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, stated that the Summit would address the artificial challenges that frustrate investment and business growth in Nigeria.
“One of the most critical challenges confronting the nation is how to ensure that the strong micro economic performances translate to improvement in the living standards of our citizens.
“This is why the development of the MSMEs is imperative in view of dwindling oil revenue.
“This is a sub sector that has the potential to create jobs, reduce poverty, grow the middle class and shift the paradigm of wealth in the country,’’ she said.
She enumerated access to finance, markets and information, inadequate infrastructure, high cost of doing business, and lack of business development skills as factors stifling businesses in Nigeria.
Similarly, the Director-General, SME Development Agency of Nigeria, Alhaji Bature Masari, called for the establishment of an MMSE bank to financially empower the people.
According to him, about 17.3 million MSMEs employed about 32.4 million people and also contributed 46 percent to the national Gross Domestic Products, GDP.
He further stated that a survey in 2014, showed that MSMEs rose to 32 million employing 59 million, representing 84.2 per cent of the labour force, contributing 48 per cent to GDP and 7.2 per cent of export.
This was even as he declared that Masari about 99.8 percent of the 32 million of the MMSEs were micro enterprises.
He appealed to the authorities to do more to grow the sector.
www.vanguardngr.com/2015/12/osinbajo-calls-for-collaboration-among-mmses-donor-agencies-public-sector/
ABUJA – Vice President Yemi Osinbajo on Tuesday in Abuja called for effective collaboration among the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), the donor agencies and the public sector for easy access to funds.
He said that lack of synergy has denied the enterprises a lot of opportunities to expand.
Osinbajo’s charged was contained in his address to the 2015 National MSMEs Summit with the theme “Entrepreneurship for National Development: The Place of MSMEs in the Economy Under the Change Agenda,’’ in Abuja.
“We need a very effective monitoring and evaluation so that we can then address where exactly the gaps and the shortfalls are.
“But today, it is evident that the programmes are there; it is evident that the resources are there; it is also evident that the entrepreneurs are there; those who want to get engaged are there.
“But we need to make that very important link between the two.”
Osinbajo linked the challenges to lack of accountability and accuracy in the number of beneficiaries.
“I think it is very important going forward that all those in the public sector to sit together and work out a way by which we are able to actually measure all the deliverables in this sector.
“For instance, we know we are supposed to fund a certain number of people; who are these people; can we verify them; how much are they getting.
“In what ways are their performances measurable and how do we measure their performances”, he said.
The Vice president further advised participants and the entrepreneurs to use the Summit to advance the course of business and address the economic challenges in the country.
He stated that the government of President Mohammadu Buhari was determined restructure the public sector for effective service delivery and job creation.
Also addressing the Summit, the Minister of State for Trade, Industry and Investment, Hajia Aisha Abubakar, stated that the Summit would address the artificial challenges that frustrate investment and business growth in Nigeria.
“One of the most critical challenges confronting the nation is how to ensure that the strong micro economic performances translate to improvement in the living standards of our citizens.
“This is why the development of the MSMEs is imperative in view of dwindling oil revenue.
“This is a sub sector that has the potential to create jobs, reduce poverty, grow the middle class and shift the paradigm of wealth in the country,’’ she said.
She enumerated access to finance, markets and information, inadequate infrastructure, high cost of doing business, and lack of business development skills as factors stifling businesses in Nigeria.
Similarly, the Director-General, SME Development Agency of Nigeria, Alhaji Bature Masari, called for the establishment of an MMSE bank to financially empower the people.
According to him, about 17.3 million MSMEs employed about 32.4 million people and also contributed 46 percent to the national Gross Domestic Products, GDP.
He further stated that a survey in 2014, showed that MSMEs rose to 32 million employing 59 million, representing 84.2 per cent of the labour force, contributing 48 per cent to GDP and 7.2 per cent of export.
This was even as he declared that Masari about 99.8 percent of the 32 million of the MMSEs were micro enterprises.
He appealed to the authorities to do more to grow the sector.
www.vanguardngr.com/2015/12/osinbajo-calls-for-collaboration-among-mmses-donor-agencies-public-sector/