Experts in the Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) sector have called on the Federal and state governments to assist Nigerians in unlocking the sector’s full potential to create jobs and grow the economy.
The experts, who spoke at a two-day workshop organised by SME owners in Akure, the Ondo State capital, said government at various levels needed to come up with policies and programmes to help develop relevant expertise and priorities that will help SMEs to flourish.
For instance, a financial expert, Mr. Folarin Omoyelu, said lack of sound financial management was stunting the growth of operators in the SME space, urging the Federal and Governments to assist in that direction.
Omoyelu said the SME sector was pivotal to the economic growth of any nation and Nigeria was no exception, especially now that the government has moved to diversify the economy away from oil by turning to opportunities in the SME sector.
He said there was need for governments at all levels to expose SME operators to modern and innovative marketing, financial, and management skills, which are useful to their operations and which will help them attract the necessary funding for growth.
The Federal Government, Omoyelu said, must show serious commitment to building a strong SME base in the country. According to him, this could be done by empowering operators with the right business skills and adequate funding through the financial sector.
“This is the time for the government at various levels to collaborate with banks and other financial institutions with the right pedigree to build the capacity of SMEs and provide them the needed support in terms of funding and skills acquisition.
“The government must understand the important linkages provided by SMEs to industries and employment generation for the youths,” Omoyelu said.
Another expert, Mr. Kingsley Adefala, said small scale entrepreneurs must have vast and keen knowledge of the environmental indices and how they can affect the growth and sustainability of their business before venturing into it.
He argued that the quest for diversification and capital inflow from the non-oil sector can be realised if the nation taps into the huge potential in the small and medium scale businesses.
He pointed out that for decades, economists have created models to determine what best drives economic growth in an attempt to help policy makers know where best to focus their efforts.
Adefala stressed that SMEs will create major economic activities, generate employment and empower Nigerians economically, while reducing the nation’s huge import dependence and the attendant capital flight.
“The development of the SME sector holds the key to the much talked-about diversification of the nation’s mono-economy centred on oil,” Adefala said.
Other issues highlighted at the workshop to help the growth of the SME sector include book keeping and financial management; operational efficiency; people management; customer relationship management and the state of the economy.
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