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Job creation: Minister seeks economic revamp through MSMEs development

By on December 27, 2012

Dr. Samuel Ortom

After Nigeria has had what can be best described as another unproductive year in job creation, The Minister of State for Trade and Investment, Dr. Samuel Ortom, has called on stakeholders to put in renewed efforts into investment in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs).

The minister hopes that the development would impel industrialisation, creation of jobs, wealth creation and poverty alleviation.

The Minister sent out his words while speaking in Abuja at the public presentation of the Enterprise Baseline Survey (EBS) by German Agency for International Development (GIZ).

He said, “As you may probably be aware, the MSMEs are globally recognised as engine of the economic growth and industrialisation; they are incontrovertible contributors to job creation and poverty alleviation.

“The relevance of the data for planning and implementation of development programmes in the MSMEs sub-sector in Nigeria cannot be over-emphasised. Due to the absence of reliable and detailed MSMEs database, it has been very difficult to translate the general policy framework into effective and sustainable intervention programmes for the benefit of the MSMEs sub-sector in Nigeria.

He said they were working tirelessly to put together realistic and consistent data for the MSMEs sub-sector in Nigeria.

Adding, Ortom said the partnership with the GIZ and other stakeholders will continue to grow stronger. In order to pave way for MSMEs expansion in the country.

“As part of the Ministry’s efforts and in recognition of the importance of credible and reliable data for planning and policy formulation, the SMEDAN in collaboration with the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) conducted the 2012 National MSMEs survey in the 36 states and Federal Capital Territory.

“The survey showed that they are 17,284,671 MSMEs in Nigeria employing 32,414884 persons and contributing 46.54 per cent to GDP in nominal terms. Deliberate efforts must be put place to grow these number if we must achieve our national vision of being among the 20 most industrialised nations by the year 2020”, he added.