Funding, others hamper SMEDAN operations – DG

The development of a viable and efficient MSME sub-sector in Nigeria, like other evolving nations is hampered by several constraints. As a neonate organisation saddled with the enormous responsibilities of sustainably developing the MSMSE sub-sector, SMEDAN is assiduously working as mandatorily permissible and operationally possible to “knock off” some of these limiters.

The Director General of SMEDAN Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda, who was represented by the Director, Enterprise development, SMEDAN, Dr. Wale Fasanya stated this at the recent SMEDAN/Hudson workshop in Lagos.

“As an Agency of Government, funding has always been a major challenge. Like we can all attest to, funds is needed to attend to the myriad needs of the MSMEs (start-up/expansion funds, compliance requirements, workspace, equipment, raw materials, personnel, etc). Adequate funding is also critical for the procurement of resources (human capital, technical, operational, etc) to deliver the Agency’s mandate across the country.”

The poor synergy among Government institutions according to him has also greatly limited the realisation of the good intentions of Government for MSMEs. Globally, the mandates/responsibilities of Agencies of Government usually overlap. However, most organisations work in silos resulting into duplications, wastages and non-realisation of set out objectives.

Another factor he said is MSMEs’ inability to demand/request for and pay for critical Business Development Services (BDS) is also crucial. Globalisation and competition has caused a major shift to dependence on knowledge-base. There is no doubt that entrepreneurship development is dynamic and incrementally evolving. Production and products standards are regularly upgraded and the rate of process and equipment obsoleteness is high. This throws serious challenge to most MSME players in Nigeria as they are not able to compete in the global space.