Business

FG Begins 4th MSMEs Survey – NBS

Published

4 years ago

August 13, 2021

The Federal Government is set to begin the fourth round of the Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) survey.
The disclosure was made yesterday in Abuja at a news conference jointly addressed by the office of the Statistician-General of the Federation and the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
Director, Real Sector and Household Statistics Department at the Nigerian Bureau of Statistics, Mr Adeyemi Adeniran, represented Statistician-General of the Federation, Mr Yemi Kale, at the news conference.
Adeniran said that the survey would begin on Monday with a train-the-trainers workshop, while field work would start on August 21.
He said that the survey which would be carried out in the 36 states and the FCT would cover 2019 and 2020.
He added that three surveys had been successfully carried out in 2010, 2013 and 2017.
Adeniran said that in the fourth round, the concept of Nano enterprises, a concept considered as micro enterprises, would be introduced.
‘The new sub-division (Nano) refers to those enterprises that have only one or two persons engaged in their operations, while the micro enterprises are those enterprises with three to nine persons engaged in their operations.
“On this note, the survey will henceforth be called NMSMEs survey. In addition, a new module was introduced into the survey, which is the impact of Covid-19 on business operations.
“It seeks to identify how enterprises coped during the pandemic period and what areas of support and intervention they will require from government at this post-covid lockdown period,’’ he said.
On the objectives of the survey, Adeniran said that they would help to establish a credible and reliable database for the MSMEs.
He said that they would also contribute to job and wealth creation over a three-year period.
Adeniran added that they would help to assess the contributions of the MSMEs sub-sector to GDP and identify the number of NMSMEs owned on gender basis.
“The survey will also identify the skills gap in the sector; ascertain top priority areas that need government interventions and assistance and identify possible financing windows to raise low cost financing,’’ he said.
On the impact of past exercises, Adeniran said they allowed government to look inward into those sectors within the MSMEs that were making impact on the GDP to strengthen them.
He added that they looked at those that were not making much contribution to the GDP to bring them up to speed so that holistically, the improvement in all sectors within the MSMEs would lead to overall improvement in growth.
“We also know that the MSMEs sub-sector of our economy employs a huge number of persons; they engage a lot of workers in their daily activities.
“To this end, they are able to cushion the effects of unemployment that Nigeria is witnessing.
“If not for the MSMEs that are still serving the communities, the labour force population and the unemployment we have in the country will be more than what we are experiencing now,’’ Adeniran added.
In his remarks, the Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Mr Dikko Radda, said that MSMEs were important to the sustainable growth of the economy.
He said the last survey indicated that the sub-sector contributed 49.78 per cent to the nation’s GDP.
According to him, they also accounted for more than 76 per cent of total employment and contributed 7.64 per cent to total export.
Radda said that the surveys gave SMEDAN the leverage to prepare programmes that would have impact on the sub-sector.

Business

PENGASSAN Tasks Multinationals On Workers’ Salary Increase

Published

7 hours ago

December 8, 2025

The Tide

The Petroleum and Natural Gas Senior Staff Association of Nigeria (PENGASSAN) has asked companies in the oil and gas sector to undertake urgent review of salaries of their workers in view of the prevailing harsh economic conditions in the country.

Also, the pensioners of Chevron Nigeria, under the aegis PenCoN, have lauded the President of PENGASSAN, Comrade Festus Osifo and his executive on their unrelenting efforts toward addressing pension abnormalities faced by retired workers in the oil and gas industry.

The association also appealed to the federal government to take necessary measures to check banditry and terrorist activities in parts of the country.

PENGASSAN President, Osifo who addressed journalists shortly after the National Executive Council meeting of the association in Abuja, at the weekend, said that though a lot of success has been recorded in negotiating salary reviews for its members, there are still organisations that have failed to lift their workers from the present harsh economic situation.

He said within this period, PENGASSAN has signed numerous Collective Bargaining Agreements (CBAs) which has brought smiles to the faces of its teeming members.

“This is because we recognise that our job, literally, is how to protect the job of our members, and how to enhance their pay,” he said.

Osifo said that operators in the oil and gas sectors always go for the best qualified professionals to carry out their operations.

“So, the same way they recruit the best, we also challenge them to provide the best condition of service and provide the best remuneration.

“Yes, today, a lot of companies will have achieved successes, but there are still few that we are still discussing at their CBAs, that we are not yet there.

“We still use this opportunity to call on these companies that are still foot dragging, that are still holding back, even with the massive devaluation that has occurred in our country, that still don’t want to fix the remuneration of our members.

“We are calling on them to do the needful, because for us in PENGASSAN we will push without holding back. We will push, using everything in our arsenal, to ensure that the needful is done,” he said.

Osifo spoke of the dispute with the Dangote Refinery group, saying there are still pending issues to be resolved.

“Gentlemen of the press, during the networking session, we also looked at the issues that are plaguing some of our branches, and you know that recently, we had some challenges in Dangote Refinery and PetroChemicals Ltd.

“And within this period, since our last National Industrial Action, we have been engaging them in a lot of conversations, but the issues are not fully resolved. There are still a lot of pending issues.

“Yes, the NEC decided that, yes, let us still consummate that process by pushing those issues, by engaging in dialogue to resolve the issues, and by also engaging all our social partners and stakeholders to get the issues resolved,” he said.

Business

SEC Unveils Digital Regulatory Hub To Boost Oversight Across Financial Markets

Published

7 hours ago

December 8, 2025

The Tide

The Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) has launched the Regulatory Hub, a new centralized digital platform designed to streamline collaboration, strengthen oversight, and improve transparency across Nigeria’s financial and capital market ecosystem.

The Commission disclosed this in a statement posted on its website.

According to the commission, the platform connects key regulatory and security institutions including the Office of the National Security Adviser (NSA), the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Economic and Financial Crimes Commission (EFCC), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS), and Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), enabling them to exchange information securely and in real time.

The launch of this regulatory hub comes ahead of the implementation of new tax laws in January 2026, with agencies such as the FIRS spreading its tentacles across sector to monitor compliance.

According to the SEC Director-General, Emomotimi Agama, the launch marks a significant step toward modernizing Nigeria’s regulatory framework through technology.

“The Regulatory Hub is a major step in our commitment to leverage technology for stronger regulatory synergy. By connecting regulators on one platform, we are building resilience, enhancing market integrity, and promoting investor confidence,” he said.

The SEC said the platform would help reduce bottlenecks in regulatory processes and facilitate faster, more informed decision-making across agencies.

Reinforcing the DG’s comments, the Executive Commissioner, Operations, Bola Ajomale, highlighted the operational benefits of the new system.

“The platform will significantly improve the timeliness and quality of regulatory decision-making. It provides a single window for regulators to share data, respond to requests, and collaborate seamlessly in safeguarding our financial and capital markets,” he said.

The commission believes the Regulatory Hub would support its broader mandate to strengthen investor protection, enhance market stability, and harmonize regulatory activities across the financial sector.

It urged stakeholders to initiate interest by emailing the Commission, adding that once registered, participants would be able to access the Hub and take advantage of its features.

Business

NAFDAC Decries Circulation Of Prohibited Food Items In markets …….Orders Vendors’ Immediate Cessation Of Dealings With Products

Published

7 hours ago

December 8, 2025

The Tide

The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing circulation of banned food products across markets in the country.

The agency, in a Press Release dated 6 December 2025, warned that these items including pasta, noodles, sugar and tomato paste are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are illegal to import.

NAFDAC stated that the sale and distribution of such prohibited items violate national trade laws, compromise the integrity of Nigeria’s food control system, and pose significant public health risks, as they have not undergone the agency’s mandatory safety and quality evaluations.

Importers, market traders, and supermarket operators have therefore, been directed to immediately cease all dealings in these items and to notify their supply chain partners to halt transactions involving prohibited products.

The agency emphasized that failure to comply will attract strict enforcement measures, including seizure and destruction of goods, suspension or revocation of operational licences, and prosecution under relevant laws.

The statement said “The National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC) has raised an alarm over the growing incidence of smuggling, sale, and distribution of regulated food products such as pasta, noodles, sugar, and tomato paste currently found in markets across the country.

“These products are expressly listed on the Federal Government’s Customs Prohibition List and are not permitted for importation”.

NAFDAC also called on other government bodies, including the Nigeria Customs Service, Nigeria Immigration Service(NIS) Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), Nigerian Maritime Administration and Safety Agency (NIMASA), Nigeria Shippers Council, and the Nigeria Agricultural Quarantine Service (NAQS), to collaborate in enforcing the ban on these unsafe products.

By: Lady Godknows Ogbulu