A significant number of the over 44 million micro and small medium enterprises(MSMEs) in the country have closed shop no thanks to the challenging operating environment, the National President, Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria (ASBON), Dr Femi Egbesola, has said.
The challenging operating environment, according to him, encompasses various factors, such as economic instability, regulatory burdens, lack of access to finance, and infrastructure issues.
Speaking with The Nation in Lagos, Egbesola pointed out that exchange rate fluctuations, shortages of raw materials, and price shocks have had a significant impact on their operations and that this had resulted in the closure of numerous businesses. It was imperative to develop long-term answers to these problems to assist the MSMEs sector and guarantee its resilience in the face of such difficulties, he added.
He said the sector is dominated by micro-sized businesses and that any challenges they encounter can have a significant impact on the economy.
Egbesola said setting up a specific ministry or regulating body for small and medium-sized businesses (SMEs) might be advantageous for the nation, similar to India, which has a ministry of MSME.
In his view, the primary objective of a ministerial-level agency would be to furnish focused assistance, materials, and guidelines to enable SMEs to prosper and have a greater economic impact.
Also, the Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade & Investment, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, said several SMEs from across the state have received a boost in financial literacy training, market linkages, business networking and financial access through various empowerment programmes.
The Commissioner, who was represented by the Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Cooperatives Trade and Investment (MCCTI), Dr Aina Olugbemiga Ayoola, stated that the government has partnered multiple institutions to address the bottlenecks that many SMEs were facing as a result of the challenging business environment.
Chief Executive Officer, Centre for the Promotion of Private Enterprise [CPPE], Dr. Muda Yusuf, urged SMEs to innovate and adopt tech solutions in order to take advantage of the deeper and more expansive opportunities presented by the economy, given the seismic digital wave currently sweeping the industry.
He noted that common challenges that SMEs face include guarantee of consistent business, financing and working-capital gaps. He urged SMEs to become more tech savvy to enable them to become globally competitive.
The Chairman, Odua Investment Company, Otunba Ashiru expressed hope that despite challenges they confront in trying to maintain market share in the face of fiercer competition, SMEs will continue to drive the nation’s progress. He said that there was a huge untapped market in the SME sector and urged operators to look into potential through greater cooperation.
Speaking on the award, he said Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, won the “SMEs Friendly Governor of the Year” in recognition of his ground-breaking efforts, which had led to a noteworthy upsurge in the number of entrepreneurs in the MSME sector.
He stated that a lot of work has been done in the state to provide MSMEs with comprehensive capacity-building support to advance them to the next stage of growth.
He said the initiatives reaffirmed his commitment to fostering a conducive environment for entrepreneurs.
According to Egbesola, the purpose of the award is to recognize those who support and uplift small and medium-sized business owners. He said, “We found that over time, a lot of organizations have been supporting us, and designing this programme is the best thing we can do to empower them to do more “to express our gratitude to everyone who helps us out each year.”More customers under Eko Electricity Distribution Company (EKEDC)’s franchise area are set to enjoy a guaranteed minimum of 20 hours of power supply in line with the new Multi-Year Tariff Order (MYTO) as the Nigerian Electricity Regulatory Commission (NERC) approves the upgrade of 33 additional feeders to Band A.
In a statement, the General Manager, Corporate Communications of EKEDC, Babatunde Lasaki, assured customers in the EKEDC network, of efforts to improve the quality of service.
The 33 additional feeders are Adeleke Adedoyin, Ajeast, Annex, Army Resettlement, British America Tobacco, CIG, Coker, Dideolu, Droyers, Empire Court, Estate, Etim Inyang, Firro, Freeman, Glover, Heritage, M&K Express, Mega Plaza, Montgomery 1, Moore Road, Nest Oil, NIMR, Nipost, Osborne, Ozumba Mbadiwe, Palace Road, Rocky Estate, Rumens, Smith, Station Feeder (Nitel), Victoria Arobieke, DPR and Nitel.
Lasaki noted that the new feeders to Band A makes it 54 Band A feeders. He said: “In our bid to serve our customers better, we are looking to even add more feeders to the list of our Band A feeders so that more customers can enjoy a guaranteed 20 hours of power supply daily.
“It is also our commitment to ensure that customers under other service bands, that is, Bands B to E, also enjoy their guaranteed minimum supply hours while we work to improve our power supply. We are working tirelessly to eliminate supply downtime within our franchise area and achieve our goal of a stable and uninterruptible power supply.”
He further explained that the company has within its ranks a Rapid Response team available to take down any complaints and enquiries from customers regarding power supply which is available on the EKEDC website via www.ekedp.com. He also urged customers to check the band they belong to by inputting their meter or account numbers on the same website via https://feederinfo.ekedp.com/.’’
Lasaki reiterated the EKEDC’s commitment to investing more in infrastructural capacity to improve power supply, saying it is working with the NESI stakeholders to ensure a minimum of 20 hours of supply is available to its customers.
