By Ossom Raphael
Abuja – The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) has unveiled the revised national policy to serve as operational guide to over 41.5 million Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) operating in the country.
The Agency said that the approved revised national policy objectives on finance would address the challenges of financial access to create, operate and expand viable MSMEs in Nigeria.
In the reviewed policy on MSMEs, businesses with staff strength of between one and two and a turnover of less than N3 million is categorised Nano/ Homestead; while businesses with staff strength of between three and nine with turnover of N3 million to N25 million falls under micro enterprise.
Also a business with staff of between 10 and 49 with turnover of N25 million, but less than N100 million comes under small business and a business with staff strength of 50 to 199, having a turnover of N100 million and above, but less than N1 billion is categorise as medium enterprise.
The Director General, SMEDAN, Dikko Radda, who briefed journalists in Abuja on the newly approved revised national policy MSME, said the policy has identified some key areas that requires conscious and sustained effort in their development.
His words: “the institutional, legal and regulatory framework is another policy area that has the objectives of transforming the informal MSMEs to the formal sector and also ease the environment for doing business and meet regulatory standards.
“The skill development forms another key policy area that is intended to hype the skill-set of MSMEs both entrepreneurial, technical/vocational and educational terms. It is also aimed at creating a culture of skill-based entrepreneurs across the country,” Mr Radda noted.
“Infrastructure and cost of doing business (MSME-centered) is also key policy area considered in view of the need to ensure continuous improvement in the ease of doing business in Nigeria with particular reference to the operations of the MSMEs”.
Radda, also said the policy document have detailed implementation metric with highlights of breakdown of key strategies into actionable step, key performance indicators (KPI) and the assignment of key partners for their implementation within a timeline.
“One principal area of action is the active engagement of the states in the implementing this policy because we are aware that the practitioners and stakeholders are residents in the states.
“We are pushing the states to set up States Implementation Committee and to revive moribund Committees in the states where they have been inaugurated but not active”, Radda said.
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