In?its?effort?towards?bridging?the?unemployment?gap?in?Nigeria,?The?Small?and?Medium?Enterprises?Development?Agency?of?Nigeria?(SMEDAN)?created?a?total?of?340,560?jobs?in?2014?for?the?teeming?youths?and?women?as?the?number?of?Micro?Small?and?Medium?Enterprises?(MSMEs)?in?the?country?reach?37million.
Bature?Umar?Masari,?Director?General/?CEO,?SMEDAN?disclosed?this?at?the?two?day?MASTERCLASS,?with?the?theme??Essential?Touch?to?Building?Professional?and?Personal?Style??organised?by?the?Global?Women?Investors?and?Innovators?Network?(GWIIN),?held?in?Abuja?on?Monday.
He?stated?that?there?are?37?million?(MSMEs)?in?Nigeria?employing?59.7?million?persons,?(representing?about?84?percent?of?the?labour?force)?and?contributing?48.5?percent?to?GDP.?The?MSMEs?contributes?7.3?percent?to?export.??The?findings?will?definitely?be?very?useful?to?MSMEs?operators,?students,?researchers?and?educational?institutions,??he?stressed.
?It?will?interest?you?to?know?that?SMEDAN?is?desirous?that?most?of?the?Enterprises?in?the?Micro?category?(which?presently?constitute?99.8?per?cent?of?(MSMEs),?grow?to?Small?and?subsequently?Medium?Enterprises.?In?this?way,?more?jobs?would?be?created?and?contribution?to?GDP?would?be?enhanced.?
He?noted?that?the?Federal?Government?introduced?the?National?Enterprise?Development?Programme?(NEDEP)?to?holistically?address?the?challenges?militating?against?the?optimal?performance?of?MSMEs?towards?employment?generation,?wealth?creation?and?poverty?alleviation.
?NEDEP?implementation?structure?involves?the?synergy?with?SMEDAN?(Entrepreneurship?training),?Industrial?Training?Fund?(Industrial?&?Vocational?skills)?and?Bank?of?Industry?(access?to?finance).??Masari?noted.
He?said?that?the?objectives?of??the?agency?includes?generating?a?minimum?of?one?million?jobs?annually,?revitalising?the?rural?economy,?improving?employment?opportunities,?creating?wealth?and?alleviating?poverty?in?rural?areas?in?Nigeria,?stressing?that?these?would?be?achieved?through?the?establishment?of?sustainable?MSMEs?in?the?774?Local?Government?Areas?(LGAs)?based?on?comparative?and?competitive?advantages.
He?noted?that?entrenchment?of?entrepreneurial?culture,?industrialisation?of?rural?areas,?enhanced?industrial?cluster?development,?increased?MSMEs?contribution?to?GDP?and?increased?export?potentials,?elimination?of?youth?restiveness,?militancy?and?other?social?vices,?as?well?as?entrenchment?of?social?security?system?in?Nigeria?were?among?the?major?objectives.
The?DG?stated;??It?is?with?great?delight?that?I?inform?you?that?SMEDAN?accords?special?attention?to?Women?Entrepreneurship?through?its?Women?Entrepreneurship?Development?Programme?(WEDP)?and?Rural?Women?Enterprises?Development?Programme?(RUWEDEP).?
