By IDOWU ISAMOTU

The governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele; the Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Adeniyi Adebayo; the executive director, Nigerian Export Promotion Council, Olusegun Awolowo and the managing director, Nigeria Export Processing Zones Authority, Adesoji Adesugba, will speak at the first Abuja SME conference and exhibition.

The conference, scheduled for August 16 and 17, is organised by several stakeholders, coordinated by the National Chamber, Policy Advocacy Centre of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry, under the patronship of the Minister of Trade and the CBN governor.

Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, who has been supervising the presidential initiatives on the MSME sector, will chair the event.

A statement Friday by the media/strategy officer of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce, Olayemi John-Mensah, noted that the event is geared towards building the capacity of SMEs for Africa Continental Free Trade Area and address internal hindrances working against SMEs existence in Nigeria.

The statement partly reads, “The issues for discussion and resolution include fast tracked implementation of new national MSME policy; proposal for legal framework to harmonise SME taxation, harmonisation of regulatory permits and ease of access to governmental incentives to the SMEs.

“The conference will also focus on creating a statutory annual platform for bringing together stakeholders and operators in the field of small and medium enterprises to address the challenges of the sector.” (Daily Trust)

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