Experts call for renewed support for MSME

Micro, small, and medium enterprises (MSMEs) have  been described as a catalyst to create employment and ensure global competitiveness.

This was a position canvassed at the maiden edition of the Niger Delta micro, small, and medium enterprises summit which held at Aztech Event Centre, Port Harcourt, Rivers state.

Speaking at the event, Moses Siasia, convener of the summit and chairman, Mosilo Group, said the greatest contributory factor to the growth in Nigeria’s gross domestic product (GDP) is a collection of the committed efforts from young people, including youths of the Niger Delta.

Siasia, who is also the founder of Nigerian Young Professionals Forum (NYPF), said Niger Delta youths are resilient and passionate about building industries and promoting economic prosperity but are most often neglected and denied support by government and relevant agencies.

He said the efforts of youths have provided an advantage for Nigeria through participation in sports, music, and entertainment and even in talent contribution worldwide in the areas of medicine, education, engineering, and other aspects of global competitiveness and development.

He, however, regretted that there has not been any concerted effort to harness and grow the potentials of the youths.

“The success of Niger Delta depends on the efforts of the youths, and as the world is looking beyond oil today, a comprehensive and well-coordinated institutional support for youths in Niger Delta should be topmost in the development agenda,” he said.

Siasia advocated the establishment of a Niger Delta entrepreneurship hub, a platform that will bridge the gap currently existing and train, equip and engage teeming Niger Delta youths, thereby creating sustainable livelihood opportunities for them, instead of waiting for handout or turning our youths into beggars in a region that is full of abundance.

“This will enable us to institutionalize proper access to opportunities both at the state and federal level,” he said.

Simbi Wabote, executive secretary of the Nigerian Content Development and Monitory Board (NCDMB), said there is an emerging global economic order which the youths should brace up and be a part of its evolution.

He said, “We need to continue with the effort to grow the MSME by challenging young people to engage strategically, to strive, and to compete in the new world economic order”.

Wabote went further to address five fundamental issues that he said were critical to various MSME interventionist efforts.

He said there is a need to acknowledge the steady shift from oil to sustainable energy.

He highlighted the NCDMB special interventions on MSME growth to include the deployment of partway to stimulate growth in the areas of enterprise development, funding, and human capital development.

He said by 2040 more than 25% of vehicles worldwide will come from electric cars, saying that has brought home the need to have a growth part for new and sustainable businesses in the region.