The Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Forum (MSMEs Forum) , the umbrella body for all MSMEs registered associations in Nigeria, has announced plans to set up an MSME Bank to cater for their peculiar financing needs.
Dr. Olajide Akinyeme, Chairman Board of Trustees of the MSME Forum, disclosed this at the formal inauguration of the Forum in Abuja on Thursday.
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He noted that in spite the huge economic potentials of the MSMEs sector in Nigeria, the sector is still largely underdeveloped and under leveraged.He said the establishment of the bank is a core agenda on the 5-year strategic plan.
“We are also pushing for the establishments of MSMEs Bank. Because funding is a big problem to MSMEs, because majority of them lack management capabilities.”
“But if we set up our own bank, we know what their challenges are and we will be able to fund them, regulate and grow MSMEs in Nigeria. We plan that the Bank will be the biggest in Africa” he said.
He acknowledged the efforts of the government and other institutions that have made attempts to help support the MSME. However, he said these policies haven’t really quite gained traction because of lack of understanding of the peculiarities of MSMEs and unorganized nature of MSMEs in Nigeria.
“We have about 40 million MSNEs and they are wallowing in poverty because we fail to understand the contribution of the sector to the economy. The policies of the government, though good and robust, their impacts haven’t been felt because the sector is not organised. They fail to come together and speak with one voice” he said.
Dr. Akinyemi noted that the five year strategic plan is a plan that every MSME down to local governments will be recognised and be able to influence government policies.
He also said the peculiarities of the MSMEs will addressed down to the grassroots level.
Speaking on the composition of the MSMEs Forum, he said there are over 165 MSMEs associations registered with the Forum.
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