Over two million businesses in the Nano, Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (nMSMEs) category died between 2017 and 2021 alone forcing more than six million Nigerians into the labor market, Olawale Fasanya, Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN), has said.
Nigeria has over 37.07 million MSMEs, which account for more than 84 percent of total jobs in the country and about 48.5 percent of the gross domestic product, GDP, as well as about 7.27 percent of goods and services exported out of the country.
According to him, insecurity was a major factor in the demise of businesses that denied farmers access to their farms, with other factors including a lack of affordable funds, a high cost of doing business, inflation, and a lack of access to local, regional, and global markets.
He spoke through Prof. Fisher Yinka of the Partnership and Coordination Department of the agency at the opening ceremony of the cluster empowerment program on shea butter, organized by the agency in collaboration with the Niger State Government, held in Minna, the state capital, Mr. Fasanya explained that the cluster empowerment initiative was aimed at reinvigorating the rural enterprises and mainstreaming them into the formal sector to cushion the effects of the economic downturn on nMSMEs in the country.
Fatima Wushishi, the Director-General, Niger State Commodity and Export Promotion Council, stated the state produces 196,000 tons of shea butter annually of the 500,000 tons produced annually in West Africa, lamenting that the shea butter businesses had not been properly harnessed in the country.
He spoke through Prof. Fisher Yinka of the agency’s Partnership and Coordination Department at the opening ceremony of the cluster empowerment program on shea butter, which was held in Minna, the state capital, in collaboration with the Niger State Government.
Mr. Fasanya explained that the cluster empowerment initiative aimed to revitalize rural enterprises and mainstream them into the formal sector in order to mitigate the effects of the country’s economic downturn on nMSMEs.
Fatima Wushishi, Director-General of the Niger State Commodity and Export Promotion Council, stated that the state produces 196,000 tons of shea butter annually, out of the 500,000 tons produced in West Africa, lamenting that the shea butter businesses in the country have not been properly harnessed.
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