LAGOS COMMISSIONER CANVASSES SUPPORT FOR SMEs DEVELOPMENT
Lagos State Commissioner for Wealth Creation and Employment, Mrs. Uzamat Akinbile-Yusuf has emphasised the need to effectively project the activities of Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises, SMEs, to the business world in order to reduce the country’s over-dependence on exportation of crude oil.
She said that the sector remains a catalyst for socio-economic change, employment and wealth creation and a way of generating income for the development of the State’s economy.
The Commissioner made this known at the technical workshop on Lagos State Non-oil Export Development Programme organised by the Ministry at the Lagos Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Alausa, Ikeja.
Akinbile-Yusuf maintained that the sub-sector, which she said, is predominantly dominated by active women and youth population, has engendered improved livelihood for thousands of people globally.
Speaking on the theme for the workshop “SMEs As Catalyst To Export Development”, the Commissioner said that more advocacy was needed to emphasize the importance of SMEs in youth employment, entrepreneurship, as well as youth employability skills development.
Akinbile-Yussuf stated that the call for increased attention to the activities of SMEs necessitates that the government must evolve strategies that will provide a sustainable alternative to over-dependence on oil that has made Nigeria a Mono-Product economy.
According to the Commissioner, the present administration is encouraging SME development through innovative strategies and implementation of policies that create and foster a positive business environment, enhance technical and non-technical entrepreneurial skills as well as improve access to networks and financial services.
She listed some of the remarkable interventions by the government in recent years to include the establishment of the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund, that provides loans to young entrepreneurs at a 5% interest rate spread over 4 years period.
Akinbile-Yusuf, therefore, noted that the non-oil export development programme of the state is an initiative borne out of the need to provide solutions to the lingering economic challenge that has created unemployment in the country.
“The non-oil export development initiative was a deliberate effort to harness available potentials in the State for economic development”, she said.
She further explained that the establishment of garment production hub in Lagos State was to accommodate all garment making enterprises in a particular location with a view to providing employment, reducing cost of production and fostering competitive international pricing”.
The Commissioner expressed the readiness of the Ministry in collaboration with Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC) and other partners to assist Lagos-based entrepreneurs scale up their operations and seek patronage for their products outside the country.