Entrepreneurs have reiterated the need for financial institutions across the nation to help in raising the capital of small and medium enterprises.
Speaking in an interview with The Tide, an entrepreneur, Mr Job Arinze said that financial institutions are expected to design programmes that would gear towards raising the financial base of small enterprises.
Arinze who owns a super store in Ikwerrie road said the system makes it difficult for entrepreneurs to secure loans from the banks.
He noted that without such aid, the small businesses will not grow, adding that in other countries of the world, the private sector drives the economy.
“In the developed countries, the private sector drives the economy and that why they are doing well but in Nigeria, the reverse is the case. There is need for us to borrow a leaf from other countries and grow our economy”, he said.
He called on the banks to ease the method of borrowing and make it less cumbersome for small and medium enterprises, adding that their growth will contribute to the betterment of the country’s economy.
In a related development, a market woman, Mrs Christy Green told The Tide that her business has remained the way it is due to lack of capital to grow the business, adding that the financial institutions like to support only the multinational companies and big companies.
Green noted that “no business starts big and if small businesses are financially supported, they can grow big”.
In her contribution, Mrs Ima Effiong called on the banks to carry the small and medium enterprises along in their loan programme, adding that the government has a part to play in encouraging banks to develop such schemes.
She said that the financial support to small businesses if achieved would go to some extent in solving the problem of unemployment ravaging the nation.
Acording to her, “many unemployed graduates have good business ideas but have no capital to embark on the businesses. If they are helped, crime would also reduce in the society”.