Business
Fund SMEs For Enhanced Productivity -NASSI
The National Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI) has urged the Federal Government to ensure adequate funding of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) to enhance their productivity.
Mr Duro Kuteyi, NASSI Vice-President, made the call in an interview with newsmen in Lagos on Tuesday.
Kuteyi said that many SMEs could not meet their market demands due to financial constraints
“They need funds to package their products and produce on larger scale to be able to compete with imported products,” he said.
Kuteyi said that the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON) was making plans to regulate products from the SMEs.
“No matter the standards of the SON, if funds available to SMEs cannot meet up with the standards established by the agency, there cannot be a way forward.
“Standardisation is not the issue now. SMEs have so many problems at hand which government has not been able to resolve over the years,” Kuteyi said.
According to him, there will be improvement in the sub-sector when government starts to heed the calls of operators.
“The association on its own part is planning to set up a consultancy centre where SMEs will be enlightened on ways to improve on and package their products,” Kuteyi said.
He also identified electricity, multiple taxation and low productivity as some of the problems facing the sub- sector.