Governor of Enugu State, Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, has stressed the need for development of small and medium enterprises in the country to enhance economic growth.
He made this known while receiving in audience, delegates from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria(SMEDAN), who paid him a courtesy visit on Monday.
Represented by the Deputy Governor, Mrs Cecilia Ezeilo, Ugwuanyi noted that the gains of having a viable and vibrant MSME sub-sector, cannot be over-emphasised.
He said that it will help in reducing import dependency and accelerate export promotion, deepen the economy , free the country from the strangle-hold of a mono-product economy, enhance employment generation, wealth creation, equalities, social harmony, security and peace .
The governor said that the state government had taken measures to achieving success in the development of SMEs, adding that,
“The truth is that it has dawned on us that spiral population growth, amid a stagnant and sometimes, dwindling resource base, reduction in opportunities for economic well-being, were creating challenges, that must be addressed through the intervention of public agencies like SMEDAN, considering it’s mandate over Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises(MSMEs), a sub-sector that has been rightly described as the growth engine of the economy.
“Based on this understanding , the state government, under the leadership of His Excellency, Governor Ifeanyi Ugwuanyi, took the early step of repositioning, re-engineering and strenghtening our own equivalent of SMEDAN, the Enugu SME Centre which, we are proud to say is one of the strongest and most efficient State level MSME development agency in Nigeria.
“Apart from promoting and facilitating the rapid growth and development of MSMEs across the state, the centre, with the enthusiastic backing and support of the state government, is linking the MSMEs to sources of finance, appropriate technology and other critical know-how and providing access to critical business infrastructures, example industrial parks and commercial clusters” ,he said.
Earlier, the Director, Policy, Partnership and Coordinator of SMEDAN, Dr Friday Okpara, ,who led the delegation on behalf of the Director General, Dr Dikko Umaru, said that they were on the visit to solicit for the state government’s support to the agency. He appealed for provision of befitting accommodation for their state and zonal offices in Enugu state.
Okpara disclosed that the mandate of the Agency is to promote and develop the Small and Medium Enterprise in Nigeria.
Highlighting some of the activities of SMEDAN, Dr Okpara said, “‘ We are working closely with Small and Medium Enterprises and also the Commerce and Industry in the state.
” SMEDAN had been able to empower individuals with take -off grants and trained many through Entrepreneurship Development Programme which was purely on skill acquisition.
”We are seeking for a befitting accommodation for the state and zonal offices and a hall that will accommodate up to 150 people, ” he said.
The deputy governor assured them of the state government’s continually support to the agency.
