MSMEs to occupy 70% of GDP by 2025 — Katagum

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Amb. Mariam Yalwaji Katagum, has inaugurated focal groups from ministries, departments and agencies to implement the revised Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) policy 2021-2025.

With this, the federal government has a target of ensuring the MSMEs contribute 70 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) base within the five-year period from the current 49%.

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According to a joint survey by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria currently has a total of 39.65 million MSMEs operating in the country.

Speaking during the inauguration in Abuja, the minister said 36 ministries, departments and agencies of government have been identified to implement the recommendations of the policy.

She said, “It became imperative to inaugurate the focal group which is essentially to create harmony and avoid duplications to make implementation seamless as it will increase the pace of activities that will drive growth of the sector to collaboratively attend to challenges of finance, skills development and research.

“A monitoring and evaluation team will also be inaugurated to ensure compliance and support the implementation,” she noted. 

The acting Director General of SMEDAN, Wale Fasanya, said the major problems of policies had always been the implementation which is why the agency identified MDAs for partners.