Germany To Invest £20m On Nigeria’s SMEs

The German government will invest 20 million Euro to boost Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in some states in the Northern part of Nigeria.

Mr Christian Widmann, Programme Manager of the German-funded Sustainable Economic Development in Nigeria, made the declaration yesterday in Abuja.

He told newsmen that Niger State had already been selected for the programme, while other states were still under consideration.

He said the programme would be operated through the German Development Cooperation (GIZ).

“The programme has total volume of 20 million Euro, but it is technical assistance in the first place for expertise, for trainings and for capacity development.

“We will definitely continue with the Shea-butter exercise, but we might even expand it. We will also look for other value chain that can be in the agriculture sector or can be in the none-agriculture sector too.’’

Widmann said the German government also had activities in micro-financing, but that the major focus of the programme would be on the creation of more employment through the various SMEs.

He said that Niger State was selected among the states that the projects would be executed due to the commitment of the government from the last project in that state.

“Niger State performed best; Nasarawa State performed least and in Plateau, due to the state of insecurity, we are yet to consider if we are going to work there, but they also perform relatively well in the last project,’’ he said.

He said that the German government had been working across the country, especially in central Nigeria, noting that it would not work in Nasarawa and Plateau States due to some obvious challenges.

He listed the challenges as insecurity in Plateau and poor performance in Nasarawa State.

Widmann said that the programme, which would run in three phases, was the second biggest SME project the German government had in Africa.

He noted that the programme would run for three years, but it would be targeting seven years to round it off completely for the various states to sustain it.

Our correspondent reports that between 2007 and 2010, the German government worked in three states in north central Nigeria.

The states include Nasarawa, Plateau and Niger and most of the projects are on micro financing, Shea-butter production, reproductive and health care, HIV/AIDS and entrepreneurship training.