In order to increase MSMEs’ contributions to the national export basket from the current six percent to at least 10 percent within the next three years, the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, or SMEDAN, is developing strategies.
This was said by Mr. Olawale Fasanya, the director general of SMEDAN, in his opening remarks at the inaugural national conference on MSMEs, which was held in Lagos and had as its theme “Driving MSME Competitiveness via Public-Private Collaboration.”
According to Fasanya, approximately 39 million MSMEs operate in Nigeria, according to the most recent National MSME Survey, which was performed by SMEDAN and the National Bureau of Statistics, NBS. For this reason, the subsector is extremely important on a global and national scale and sub-national levels, especially for socio-economic reasons.
According to the 2021 MSME Survey report, MSMEs in Nigeria generates only 6.21% of the country’s total exports, compared to 49.35% in India in 2021 and 68% in China in 2020.
This relatively small contribution of MSMEs in Nigeria to exports is partly related to the subsector’s weak competitiveness. In keeping with our philosophy of working in partnerships to fulfill our mission, we organized this National Conference using the tremendous advantages that come from public-private partnerships
In essence, the conference would offer the much-needed forum for presenting strategies for boosting the 39 million MSMEs’ competitiveness in the global market. To what extent can we increase the contributions of of MSMEs to national export basket from the current six percent to a minimum of 10 percent within the next three years”.