Yemisi Izuora
Acting Director General of the Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Dr. Paul Angya has urged States and Local Governments to offer assistance to Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) to enable them stand on their feet for overall economic and industrial growth.
Angya, who spoke during a courtesy visit to Governor of Enugu State noted that the MSMEs was the engine of growth for any economy hence concerted efforts should be made by government at all levels to grow the sector.
‘There is no way we can diversify the economy without the active development and involvement of the MSMEs. They are the secret of economic prosperity.
Let the state governments in Nigeria help MSMEs in their localities to survive, then SON as the regulator would come in, accredit and certify them.
We have been encouraging and supporting them through trainings and sensitization programmes. We have offered in some states and offering 25 percent subsidy for their certifications.
We want the MSMEs to flood the industrial and economic environment of this country’, Dr. Angya said.
He said local industries and SMES could accelerate industrial growth, adding that they remained vital towards job and employment creation and checking rural-urban drift.
SON has with the collaboration of the European Union (EU) Technical Barriers to Trade (TBT) trained SON staff for the purpose of assisting MSMEs and agro-allied operators in Nigeria on how to process agricultural products for export.
According to Angya, National economies across the world have since become export – driven, adding that Nigeria should look inwards in order to get the Backward Integration and economic diversification train on track.