Support SMEs with grants, small business owners tell government

The Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (NASME) says the government should support small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) with grants in order to pull through the present economic challenges.

John Karunwi, NASME chairman in Oyo state, made this known in an interview with NAN in Ibadan, Oyo state, on Monday.

Karunwi said the association had prepared for the economic challenges by building the capacity of its members through various training programmes.

“Through the training programmes, we have been able to build their capacity to know that it is not business as usual and that change management must be embraced, particularly at this period,” he said. 

“The change in management of their operations will enable them to look inward and see what aspects should be reviewed in order to create more competitiveness.”

Karunwi said members have also been advised against presently taking loans – even if it is a digital loan. 

This, he said, is because before the SMEs make procurement, inflation might have taken its toll on the loan, thus making them run at a loss.

“If the government should give grants at this time, it will be good, as MSMEs need them as against loans which may be eaten off by inflation and thus, they may not be able to pay them back,” the NASME chairman said. 

“But, with grants from government, there will be less pressure on them to pay the money back, which will give them sustainable productivity.”

The NASME boss said members were also trained in financial literacy, as most SMEs, especially the nano-enterprises, lacked financial literacy.

He said most of them do not separate personal accounts from business accounts and as such, lack proper bookkeeping and financial management.

Karunwi said the association had initiated discussions with the government on tax harmonisation so as to address the issue of double taxation.