Provision of industrial space, innovation, removal of multiple taxation and collaboration are some of the ways millions of Nigerian small businesses can be repositioned in the face of Covid-19 pandemic, according to entrepreneurship experts who spoke a webinar organised by the SME Group of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
Speaking at the webinar themed ‘Repositioning SMEs for Growth in the New Normal’, Segun Kuti-George, former chairman of the Nigerian Association of Small-Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Lagos State chapter, noted that provision of industrial space has become a big issue for entrepreneurs, admitting, however, that Lagos State government is doing something in that direction.
“Many of our graduates want to go into entrepreneurship and they need space to produce,” he said.
For Benjamin Adekagun, tax consultant and deputy chairman of SME Group of the LCCI, tax collectors in Lagos State have been given targets to meet, forcing them to squeeze businesses in the state.
Nigeria has 41.5 million MSMEs contributing 50 percent to the GDP and accounting for 86.3 percent of jobs (59.6 million jobs in 2017), according to a 2019 report by the National Bureau of Statistics (MSMEs) and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN). Micro businesses make up 99.8 percent of the group, but they mostly lack the systems that will enable them to thrive. Covid-19 has worsened their plight, with some out of business and many seeking alternatives.
Lola Akande, Lagos State commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, said MSMEs need optimisation, adaptation, innovation and collaboration to be able to stay afloat amid Covid-19 that could make or mar them.
Represented by Helen Adesina, director of commerce at the ministry, Akande noted that collaborators benefit by leveraging business contacts, while increasing their buying power or access to markets.
“For every new reality, there is a new set of problems. Smart entrepreneurs must visualise these new problems and create solutions for them. In so doing, value is offered and wealth is created as a result,” she said.
“Some of the innovations we have seen are completely virtual learning resources, virtual trade fairs, sanitising stations, re-usable face masks, among others. Innovation requires that businesses stay abreast of global and local trends and continue to acquire new skills to address them.”
She said Lagos State government continually strives to create an enabling business environment for businesses, urging entrepreneurs to tap opportunities such as the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund.
Toki Mabogunje, president of the LCCI, said MSMEs have been unable to harness tremendous potential due to the country’s operating environment characterised by high production costs, declining purchasing power, excessive regulations, high borrowing costs, policy uncertainties and poor trade facilitating infrastructure.
“These challenges were made worse by the Covid-19 pandemic and associated containment measures which, to a large extent, impacted almost all Nigerian SMEs although disproportionately,” she said.
Dikko Umaru Radda, director-general of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), said many MSMEs have a problem of access to work space, urging entrepreneurs to upscale through the use of technology.
“You have to find a way of upscaling through technology,” Radda, who was represented by Onesi-Lawani Daberuje of SMEDAN, said.
“You have to outsource some of the services to people that are specialised and have the skill-set. Packaging and market strategies should also be improved upon,” he said.
Daniel Dickson-Okezie, chairman of SMEG of the LCCI, said MSMEs are battered by declining economic fortunes, poor power supply, poor access to funds and poor infrastructure. He said COVID 19 pandemic particularly has hit small businesses hard, but added that most Nigerian SMEs are determined to weather the storm, harness available opportunities and move to higher heights.
