Economic experts on Wednesday, urged the Federal Government to address the constraints in accessing loans by small and medium scale businesses in the country.
The experts said this in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Lagos.
Mr Muda Yusuf, the Director-General, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), told NAN that small and medium scale businesses were being hampered by poor access to loans.
Yusuf urged the Federal Government to make efforts to improve on access to loans and infrastructure development for registered businesses, to bring about the desired growth in the economy.
Dr Ernest Odior, an Economics teacher in the University of Lagos, also told NAN that improved access to capital by small and medium scale businesses would bring about 40 per cent increment in job creation.
Odior said that most businesses went into extinction due to poor access to loans and high interest rates.
He said that the rates scared business owners from applying for loans.
Mr Segun Kuti-George, the Chairman, Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Lagos Chapter, bemoaned the unwillingness of some banks to grant loans to small businesses.
He said that the association had been surviving through loans obtained from its cooperative society, which was not enough.
Mrs Rhonda Watson, the Public Diplomacy Officer, U.S. Consulate told NAN that small businesses in Nigeria needed more assistance from the Federal Government.
Watson suggested that government should increase the channels of accessing funds, especially for women entrepreneurs.
According to her, when women succeed in business, it also spelt success for families and the nation.
Prof. Sarah Anyanwu, Head of Department of Economics, University of Abuja, also lamented the death of small businesses annually.
Anyanwu urged the Federal Government to provide access to capital for small -scale manufacturers to discourage importation of competitive goods.
Mr Osoko Ohowetiyi, the Vice President of the National Association of Cane Weavers told NAN that most micro-finance banks were not willing to give loans to small businesses.
Ohowetiyi said that the cane weavers and their counterparts in other businesses had been running their businesses with meagre savings.
“We realised that all these banks don’t want to give loans to small businesses but to multinational companies alone.
“The interest rates are too high and when they reduce it for us, they give us small amount like N30,000 which is too small,’’ he told NAN.
Ohowetiyi urged government to find a way to improve on the activities of the micro-finance banks since they were established solely for businesses.
