A vibrant micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) sector has the capacity to get the country out of the current economic recession, Abdullahi Ganduje, Governor of Kano State, says.
The Kano State Governor in an address at the 2nd edition of African International Small and Medium Enterprises Economic Summit and Awards ceremony, held in Aba, the commercial hub of Abia State, advised all State Governors in Nigeria, to invest in MSME, which he referred to as the engine of growth of any economy.
Represented at the event, by Kabir Dandago, the State’s commissioner for Finance and Economic Development, Ganduje observed that entrepreneurship is the basis of creating genuine wealth.
In his words, “Another truth is that all the developed economies of the world take pride in entrepreneurship, which is the basis of their growth.
“Any serious government will improve MSMEs as the basis of moving the economy of the State forward to the level of sustainable economic development. We have realized this in Kano and that is why we have taken many initiatives with the view to deepening the MSME sector in the State”.
He explained that the State Government invests a substantial portion of its revenue into growing MSME, noting that the State Government has also accessed the N2 billion Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) MSME fund to boost the sector in the State.
To ensure that the CBN-MSME fund and other funds meant for the MSMEs are not mismanaged, he explained that the State Government established the Kano State Micro-Finance Agency, to supervise the State Micro-Finance Bank, which is the dispensing bank for MSME funds in the State, to ensure that the money is duly utilized.
The establishment of the Kano State Micro-Finance Agency, according to the Governor, was to prevent Government and its officials from having access to MSME funds.
He stated that MSME funds are not paid into the treasury account of the State, but are allowed to trickle down to the real beneficiaries, through the Kano State Micro-Finance Bank.
Kano State according to him, has 45 Micro-Finance Banks, which are sited in all the Local Government areas of the State.
“We have also accessed the N1 billion commercial agriculture loan from the CBN and farmers in the rural areas are benefiting from the fund, so that they can produce more cash and food crops to satisfy local demand and excess for export, “he said.
Darlington Onuoha, president, African Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (AASME), the organizers of the event, urged the Federal and State Governments to encourage MSMEs, by providing more conducive environment for them to thrive.
While urging the Federal Government to invest more in power to provide constant electricity in the country, to aid industrialization, he also appealed to various State Governments in the country, to harmonise taxes and levies in their various States, to reduce overhead cost on locally produced goods.
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