GIZ, LSETF launch business entry guide for MSMEs

The Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment (SEDIN) – program of the German Development Agency (GIZ) and the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) has launched a business entry guide to support start-ups in the poultry, waste recycling, and fashion sectors kick-start and build sustainable businesses.

The launch of the business entry guide is in partnership with Fate Foundation. It also supports existing micro, small and medium size operators in the sectors to scale their operations.

Speaking during the launch of the e-business entry guide, Akinropo Omoware, head of policy strategy, and component, GIZ-SEDIN said the SEDIN is an initiative in the sustainable cluster of GIZ, noting that the program works at different levels to ensure that the constraints that businesses face in Nigeria are reduced.

He stated that the launch of the e-business guide would help the country address the issue of unemployment as it will help change the landscape of the poultry, waste recycling, and fashion industries.

He noted that the issue of unemployment in the country could be tackled when existing businesses expand and the unemployed can kick-start their businesses.

“If we must tackle the issue of unemployment, we must ensure that MSMEs grow and that the unemployed can kick-start a business,” he said.

“To do this, we need to invest not just money but making sure that the business environment is right for businesses,” he added.

In her opening remarks, Sheila Ojei, director of strategy, funding, and stakeholder management (LSETF), said it is relevant that MSME operators are supported owing to their impact on job creation.

“Complying with laws, policies, and regulations by start-ups or early stage businesses can be daunting as they are either not aware of these legislations and regulations, or they do not know how to go about the required provisions and processes,” she said.

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“Hence, the need for aggregation of these important regulations in a single document and accessible format,” she added.

According to her, the business guide serves as a practical guide for start-up and early-stage businesses in Lagos, and it includes relevant information regarding entry, start-up costs, available funding options, lists, and contacts of business associations/cooperatives, and markets for products and services in the selected sectors.

She added that relevant information on support and opportunities for returning migrants and women entrepreneurs in the state is also provided in the guide.

Similarly, Adetutu Oshosanya, permanent secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives said the business guide for early-stage businesses in the state was long overdue, noting that the state government appreciates all efforts in making it a realization.

She noted that the state is also seeking ways it can have a database for MSMEs in the state including relevant information to serve as a guide for potential investors, entrepreneurs, and policymakers in the MSMEs landscape.

In a presentation of the entry guide, Oluchi Johnson-Achibiri, digital product manager, Fate Foundation said the guide focused on the poultry, waste recycling, and fashion sectors owing to their high propensity for job creation.

She urged start-ups and early-stage business operators to make use of it as a guide for sustaining their businesses while calling on existing entrepreneurs to leverage it for the strategy to diversify their operations.

The business entry guide for the three sectors can be downloaded from the GIZ-SEDIN website, the LSETF and Fate Foundation websites.