Nigeria’s Vice President, Senator Kashim Shettima, is expected to launch the N2 billion support fund for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) initiated by the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) penultimate week.

NASME President, Dr Abdul Rasheed Yerima disclosed this in Abuja, during a working visit to the Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon Benjamin Kalu.

According to him, “the Vice President yesterday confirmed to us that immediately he comes back from America, he will be the one that will launch the empowerment fund.”

The West Africa SMEs exhibition is scheduled for 16th to 18th October 2023, where the Secretary General of African Continental Free Trade (AfcTA) is to deliver a paper regarding trade initiatives, status and opportunities for SMEs in Nigeria, among others.

He observed that the association has over 13.5 million SMEs across the country, which is a member of Nigeria’s five arms of the organised private sector (OPS).

He said: “NASME has a membership of 13.5 million active members, and NASME has offices in all the 36 States of the Federation, including Abuja, in all the 774 Local Government Areas in the country.

“Today, NASME is organizing the West Africa MSMEs exhibition, the first of its kind in collaboration with ECOWAS, Federal Ministry of Trade & Investment and also about to launch an N2 billion empowerment fund.

“N1 billion empowerment fund is for the youths, N1 billion is for the women. NASME is leading the advocacy for the establishment of MSMEs Council in West Africa that is the unified MSMEs Council,” he noted.

According to him, the Organization has, over the past five years, organised SME competition for Nigerian youths, with the winner going home with the sum of N1 million, the runner-up going home with N750,000, while the third place goes home with the sum of N500,000, respectively.

While soliciting the Parliament’s support for the growth of MSMEs across the country, Dr Yerima Yerima called for the enactment of laws that will support SMEs in the country.

In his remarks, Deputy Speaker of the House of Representatives, Hon. Benjamin Okezie Kalu, has said that the observance of sit-at-home in the southeast on Monday has in no small measure affected the movement of goods from the north and the southern hemispheres of Nigeria.

Relying on available statistics, Kalu said that the Southeast loses an estimated N10 billion to N13 billion in the transportation sector alone on every sit-at-home day.

Hon. Kalu said that insecurity in the region was affecting the small and medium enterprises, which he recognised as a major contributor to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

He, however, assured the House’s commitment to review the laws inhibiting the operations of the SMEs in the country.

He said, “According to recent data, SMEs account for 48% of the National GDP in emerging economies additionally, the World Bank reports SMEs play a pivotal role in job creation.

“Therefore, upscaling entrepreneurship because its strategic imperative to revitalizing the Nigerian economy. SMEs must be seen as a strategic tool for our economic development.

“As legislators, we are aware of security problems facing our nation. In recent years, the security situation has posed hurdles. The sit-at-home in the South East has affected the movement of goods between the North and the South. It ought not to be so.

“Why this issue affects the entire nation. We can examine specific examples. Our businesses are going down, and most of our businesses are SME businesses, and the security challenges are suffocating the SME businesses in their numbers.

“Also, billions and trillions of naira are being lost to the sit-at-home order. There are other parts of the country where insecurity has suffocated SMEs, and something must be done about this. It’s disheartening to note that the ongoing insecurity in the region will profoundly impact trade and socioeconomic outcomes.

“Statistics from SBM Intelligence revealed that the south East loses an estimated N10 billion to 13 billion in the transportation sector alone every sit-at-home day.

“Traders on the other hand face looses ranging from N5.4 billion to N31 billion daily. These figures are alarming and underscore the urgency of addressing the security challenges in the region.

“So, if there’s no reason for these non-state actors to stop this, let this be their reason. That they are killing their own region with insecurities created by themselves. When you sit at home other regions are not sitting at home.

“When the SMEs in the south east suffer due to insecurity, the country suffers. It impacts the whole country.

“There must be legislative commitment in order to address some of your concerns. The SMEs are the backbone of every country. As legislators, we are committed to supporting and making laws to grow SMEs.

“My office is ready to partner with the association, we will find ways to review existing laws that will be not SMEs friendly. We believe that by creating more enabling environment for SMEs to thrive, we can address some of the economic challenges facing our great nation,” the Deputy Speaker assured. (Nigerian Tribune)

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