African Development Bank Partners Nigeria to Develop SMEs

Nigeria and the African development bank are working towards developing a long term index to identify the challenges of small and medium term enterprises in Nigeria in order to enhance optimum productivity.

Minister of state for industry, trade and investment Aisha Abubakar stated this when she hosted delegates from the African development bank, AFDB and other stakeholders from Nigeria and other African countries.

A recent figure from the small and medium enterprises development agency of Nigeria SMIDEN and the national bureau of statistics show that there are 37 million SMEs in the country employing 57 million people.

By this figure, they contribute a lot to the nation’s gross domestic product (GDP).

Stakeholders believe that their current contribution can be tripled if their capacity is enhanced.

This is what the meeting seeks to address.

They say many countries are today made because of their ability to develop their business environment and so commended the gesture from the African development bank for coming up with the initiative which is hoped will identify and address the challenges SMEs in Nigeria.

By this synergy Nigeria joins the list of other African countries where a similar initiative is ongoing. Experts say it will also foster trade relations in the region.