TheNigeriaAssociation of small and medium Enterprises diversification agenda of Nigeria.(NASME), Rivers Chapter, has said that SMEs promote the economic diversification agenda of Nigeria.
Spokesperson of Rivers NASME,Joel Adedeji, gave this hint in his office in Port Harcourt, yesterday.
Adedeji stated that SMEs had in their quest to make the business profitable, carried out activities that had helped to contribute to the gross domestic product of the country.
According to him , “we have contributed our quota to grow the economy of the state in particular and the nation in general, especially in the manufacturing sector where our products have tremendously improved. We have added value to products we offer our consumers’’.
Adedeji further said SMEs, had through their activities created a good number of jobs, which he explained have immensely reduced the unemployment burden in the country.
He noted with regret that the body faced a great deal of challenges, which he described as both internal and external.
Adedeji said in spite of their efforts, SMEs contributions to the GDP of the country has not yet attained an enviable height, saying that the challenges they face inhibit the sector’s capacity to maximally contribute to the nation’s economy.
He noted that the process of obtaining bank facilities, especially from Bank of Industry (BOI) was too lengthy and discouraged their members along the line.
Adedeji explained that the internal challenges range from poor organisatioal skill to lack of knowledge of the business environment, to poor book keeping ability and lack of information on global trends as well as poor advertising and packaging skills.
He listed the external challenges as heavy and multiple taxation and unavailability of agency advisory support and called on the relevant authorises to look in to these challenges with a view to addressing them.

Tonye Nria-Dappa