Small and Medium Enterprises, SME’s in Nigeria deserves all support in order to compete favourably in the competitive market.

The Chairman of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Small and Medium Enterprises Group LCCI SME, Jon Kachikwu stated this at the LCCI SME Group seminar held in Lagos.

Mr Kachikwu says the SME’s contributes nearly half of Nigeria’s Gross Domestic Product and accounts for over 25 percent of employment, poverty alleviation and wealth creation.

Sustainable economic development on the parts of SME’s cannot be achieved without direct intervention of the government and financial institutions,” he added.

The Deputy Director of National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control, NAFDAC, Mrs Veronica Ezeh highlighted the difficulties associated with doing business in Nigeria.

She also talked about the role of the Chamber of Commerce and Industry, the importance of SME’s as well as weaknesses in the SME’s sector.

Government Policies to Support SME’s
Mrs Ezeh explained that some government policies to support SME’s in Nigeria, such as the recent signing of the executive order on ease of doing business would help remove some bottlenecks in doing business.

The theme of this year’s seminar is ‘Ease of Doing Business: Economic Realities for SME’s.’

It highlights the opportunities and challenges in the SME’s sector and evaluates the extent to which the Nigerian Government’s policy on ease of doing business has positioned businesses, particularly SMEs towards growth and economic sustainability.