By CHARLES IWUOHA

The Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, on Thursday assured Small and Medium Enterprises Owners of Federal Government’s commitment towards solving the challenges facing the establishment and operations of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.

The Vice President who listed some of the challenges to include access to credit facilities, big machines, registration of products and overzealousness of government officials expressed optimism that the empowerment of MSMEs would lead to the economic growth of the country.

“The world over, MSMEs serves as the engine room for economic growth of societies, as they are often significant employers of skilled and un-skilled labour, and are usually the key service providers to government and large corporations.

“Over the years in Nigeria, MSMEs have played a vital role in the overall economic growth of the country as they have consistently contributed significantly towards improving capacity, standard of living and bringing about substantial local capital formation, power productivity and capability.

“In view of available statistics, the Government of Nigeria has found it imperative to initiate programs such as this to help to re-position MSMEs so as to drive inclusive economic growth, regional development, employment generation and poverty reduction as well as promote broad based equitable development to promote more opportunities for youth participation in the economic development of the country.”

According to him, N90 billion fund has been earmarked for agriculture-based MSMEs by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) as National Agency for Food, Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) is rolling out an e-platform for registration of products.

The Group Head, Retail Banking Division, East, of the Access Bank, Mr. Charles Oguibe, disclosed that the bank targets about 30,000 customers to be empowered for start-up Micro, Small and Medium Businesses (MSMEs) in 2020.

Speaking in Abakaliki during the flag off of the National MSMEs Clinic, Oguibe disclosed that Access Bank partners with the office of the Vice President to drive the MSMEs in Nigeria.

Oguibe said that Access Bank has significantly invested on MSMEs, engendering an expanded lending at a growth rate of 30 percent over a three-year period.

Harping on the edition of the National MSME Clinic being Flagged off in Abakaliki, the Group Head noted that it is one of the strategies and initiatives of the Federal Government for improving local manufacturing and bringing together key Frontline Government agencies and stakeholders to interact together with a view of removing impending bottlenecks for MSMEs in the country.

He further assured that Ebonyi State stands to gain a lot from the MSME clinic from the Access Bank especially in the area of providing funds, knowledge and market for doing businesses.