Poor coordination by MDAs impeding growth of MSMEs, says SMEDAN
Director-General, SMEDAN, Dr. Dikko Rada
The Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dikko Radda has lamented that poor coordination by government agencies was hindering the growth of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
Radda stated this at the Train-The-Trainers capacity workshop for the implementation of the new National Policy on MSMEs (2021-2025) in Abuja.
The training was part of the coordination mechanism provided by the Investment Climate Reform (ICR) facility on effective implementation of the policy.
The DG maintained that the growth and development of Nigeria rests on a functional and efficient MSME sub-sector.
Radda, however, noted that despite the contribution of small businesses to the economy, it had become increasingly difficult for Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDAs) to work together in developing the sector.
He said: “Putting in place an implementable policy is critical but implementing it is far more critical. Overtime, it has become very difficult for MDAs to mutually work together in developing this very critical subsector.
“What has happened is that different MDAs are doing different things that border on MSMEs development without proper coordination.
“As an agency with the mandate to coordinate MSMEs development, it has become imperative that we must find ways and means to galvanize the various key players in the MSMEs turf,” he stated.
According to him, the entire focus of the policy was to create a platform to collaboratively attend to some of the basic challenges of the sector, including the creation of more awareness about the policy at the grassroots level.
Earlier, the Director-General of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI), Victoria Akai, described the review of national MSME policy as a game changer to the business environment.
Making reference to a survey carried out by the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) and (SMEDAN), she noted that the sector accounted for over 80 per cent of employment in the country and contributes over 50 per cent to Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
Represented by a council member in the ACCI, Amina Akai, the DG, who commended SMEDAN for the development of the policy also applauded the technical support of the ICR Facility towards implementation and evaluation of the revised policy.
