Nigeria’s Vice President, Professor Yemi Osinbajo has launched the 27th edition of the National MSMEs Clinic in Gombe State, a programme that provides opportunities for several small and medium scale businesses to grow.
Speaking during the launch in Gombe, Prof. Osinbajo said with the development of groundnuts and rice processing in the state, the ambition or vision of Gombe State to be the industrial hub in the North East would be made possible, especially with focus on agro-processing value chain.
He said Gombe had already recorded successes in cotton production and processing.
The Vice President said the National MSME Clinic Programme had facilitated and would facilitate the establishment of facilities for Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs in some states in the country with fully equipped facilities that they could use at a considerable cost, thereby sparing them the financial burden of buying their own equipment.
“Where possible, these shared facilities will be pre-certified by the relevant coordinating agencies. A good example is the 200 thousand capacity land storage facility for Micro Small and Medium Enterprises in Benue State at the Zakibiyam International Yam Market. The storing facility is designed to address the problem of post-harvest losses. This is one of the greatest impediments to actualizing the main potential of the agricultural sector,” said VP Osinbajo.
He said the strength of Nigeria’s economy was in the innovative power of entrepreneurship of young people, of which the country had in abundance in both talent and human resources.
According to Prof. Osinbajo, Nigeria is today witnessing an important development, with the youths providing their capabilities for the future.
Consequently, he said the 27th edition of the MSMEs Clinic was a Federal Government Initiative to work with state governments to support small businesses, which is necessary because small businesses are the engine of growth of any economy and they employ the largest numbers of people.
He said it was also designed to bring relevant regulatory agencies to meet with the small businesses, giving them the opportunity to bring their businesses the latest concerns to the attention of the regulatory agencies for solutions.
For Gombe State, he said the Federal Government has spent 1.2 billion naira to support its Micro Small and Medium Enterprises.
“The programme has benefited Gombe state, over 9, 085 employees from close to 2, 000 MSMEs in the education sector have benefited from the scheme. Another 10, 000 artisans and transporters in the state have also benefited while 6, 000 new businessmen had been registered free of charge with Corporate Affairs Commission, CAC. In all, MSMEs in Gombe state have been supported by the Federal Government with almost N1.2billion under the ESP,” VP Osinbajo said.
Gombe Industrial Clusters
VP Osinbajo had earlier visited the Gombe Industrial Clusters where he inspected small-scale businesses that form the clusters comprising mainly of groundnut oil and rice millers.
The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Mariam Katagum, who heads the Survival Plan of the Economic Sustainability Committee, said the MSMEs sector was the engine of growth of any economy contributing to development, job creation and export capacity.
Katagum said the latest Nigeria Bureau of Statistics MSMEs survey showed that the sector contributed 50 per cent of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product and accounted for 80% of employment.
She s the sector was key to reducing poverty and unemployment, hence the move by the Federal Government to leverage the sector to impact positively on the living standard of Nigerians.
Also, Gov. Inuwa Yahaya of Gombe state said the MSMEs initiative would help small and medium scale businesses in areas of improving access to finance, business registrations, access to market, skills acquisition and compliance with regulatory requirements.
Governor Yahaya said his administration was doing a lot to create an environment conducive for businesses to thrive.
“This administration is working to reposition the MSME subsector. Already, the bill for the creation of the Gombe State Enterprise Development Agency is before the House of Assembly.
“When created, the Agency is expected to drive MSME development in the State by harnessing the enormous potentials of our small and medium scale businesses across various economic and social sectors,” Governor said.
Hauwa Abu
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