The Federal Executive Council (FEC) has approved the renewal of the national policy for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME).
Dr Dikko Radda, Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), disclosed this at the maiden annual conference of Business Development Service Provider (BDSP) on Monday in Lagos.
The theme of the conference was: “BDSPs and their role in growing the MSMEs.”
Radda said that the approval was done after stakeholders validation exercise across the six goe-political zones of the country.
Radda said that the implementation of the policy had commenced in earnest under the the leadership of the National Council of MSME headed by Vice- President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo.
He said that a robust coordination mechanism was in place, under a Public Private Dialogue (PPD) system, in partnership with various stakeholders.
Radda added that the implementation of the BDSPs certification and accreditation framework was a right step toward building the critical mass of BDSPs that would attend to millions of MSMEs.
“At the state level, the state council on MSME will support the national council to ensure that the benefits of the implementation will reach the grassroots.
“I also want to use this medium to appeal to state governments that have not established their councils on MSMEs to do so in partnership with the agency.
“The major aim of the conference framework is to set the standard for Business Development Service Interventions by providing the mark of quality for delivery of Business Development Service (BDS) to MSMEs in Nigeria,” he said.
The Chief Executive Officer, WVL Development Advisers Ltd., Dr Waheed Olagunju, said that a total of 110 BDSPs had been accredited under the first phase of SMEDAN programme.
Olagunju said that the number would be scaled up in the next three months.
He said the conference being a maiden edition was a learning process, noting that the feedback would serve as an impute to the subsequent rounds.
Olagunju said that there was a need for competent and efficient BDSPs to scale up and grow the MSMEs in the country.
The Director, Enterprise Development Centre, Pan Atlantic University, Mr Peter Bankole, said that after the training their was a standard council, saddled with providing a satisfactory system.
“After the whole process, it would be irrelevant to request for school qualifications and tribes as the same standard would be applied across the country due to the measures put in place,” he said.
The Director, Enterprise Development Centre, Pan Atlantic University, Mrs Nneka Orekearu, said the training was necessary following complaints by entrepreneurs to shore up their services.
Orekearu stressed the need for the BDSPs to be standardised in their operations to enable them tackle challenges encountered in the operations.(NAN)
