Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), Dr. Dikko Umaru-Radda, on Tuesday said the sub-sector had provided over 41 million businesses and 59 million employment opportunities in Nigeria.
Umaru-Radda said this at the opening ceremony of the 2021 Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Opportunity Fair in Kano, with the theme “MSMEs: Key to an Inclusive and Sustainable Post-Pandemic Recovery.”
Umaru-Radda however said that MSMEs were bedeviled with some challenges that did not allow some new enterprises to survive their third year anniversary.
“Understanding that access to market is one of such challenges; SMEDAN has over the years, assiduously worked to ensure opportunity fairs are held even when it demands the development of ICT platforms.
“The annual event is usually implemented in the North and South geo-political zones of the country to further enhance Nigeria MSMEs prominence, competitiveness and development.”
Umaru-Radda said that the Agency would continue to register businesses on MSMEs Mass Registration Programme Platform to enhance competitiveness among them.
He said the fair was designed to provide opportunities for the exhibition of goods and products.
Umaru-Radda said the 2021 MSMEs survey to be conducted by the agency, in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics, would commence across the country this month.
In his remarks, Gov Abdullahi Ganduje of Kano State said rice production in Nigeria had improved as a result of the diversification of the economy by the Federal Government.
Ganduje said the increase in rice production had assisted in creating employment opportunities that improved the livelihood of many Nigerians.
He said that Kano was among the states with the highest number of MSMEs in the country, adding that government would continue to provide the infrastructure that would enable businesses to grow.
The governor said the government was constructing a hydropower plant at Bagauda to enhance industrialization in the state.
One of the exhibitors, Mrs. Maryam Zubairu, said the exhibition had created a market for her business to thrive.
Zubairu exhibited perfumes, baby clothes, and bedsheets at the fair.
