NASME lauds FG’s forex sale restriction

The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME) has said that the Federal Government’s decision to restrict sales of foreign exchange at the official rate for food import is good for micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

Chairman, NASME, Lagos State Chapter, Mr Solomon Aderoju, stated this in Lagos at a press briefing, adding that the policy the statement will help in strengthening the country’s currency.

Aderoju pointed out that forex restriction will help conserve Nigeria’s foreign earnings, adding that it will ultimately enhance the already weakened Naira. He commended the government for the giant stride, noting that it will make MSMEs grow and create more jobs if well implemented.

In his remark, Vice President, South West, NASME, Oladipo Jemi-Alade said that the government pronouncement offers a new opportunity for NASME members and other manufacturers in the country to explore the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCTA) agreement.

“Now that AfCTA is open unto us, we have to be prepared for the next level. We want to be in a position to compete favourably with our foreign counterparts. For this reason, we are upgrading our skills, and we have embarked on membership training nationwide to build skills and capacity.”

Also speaking, Adam Adebayo, Chairman, NASME Cooperative noted that over 200 members have accessed the Anchor Borrowers Fund, stressing that the group has been advocating a ban on imported food to enable them to process and sell their local produce. Adebayo said:

We have been exporting primary produce, but now that there is a new development, we are happy because we would be able to add value by processing all our products through our value chain. With this, the government will now bring back the Commodity Board, which will be responsible for price control so that the farmers will not record losses.”