Lagos State Government has charged stakeholders to deploy their wealth of experience towards ensuring Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) become more productive and highly competitive in their products and services.
Permanent Secretary, Ministry of Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Mrs. Adetutu Ososanya, FCA, gave the charge at the Quarterly Meeting of the Lagos State Council on MSMEs held at LASCOFIS Boardroom, Ogba, Ikeja on Thursday.
Ososanya stated that members must be seen to be working toward the objective of the Council and demonstrate a commitment to collective responsibility, alignment and harmonisation of efforts for sustainable growth and development of MSMEs that can stand, thrive and survive in any hostile business environment.
Her words: “Stakeholders must work to grow and develop the capacity of MSME operators for effective and efficient production of goods and services, which will enable them to compete favourably in various markets of the world using the instruments of AfCFTA, AGOA and others.
“Through our gathering and discussion, we will be assisting to chat a way forward for our MSMEs, who are currently confronted with numerous challenges that affect production and make the economic environment very hostile for their businesses. We will bring them succour and give them the reason to hold on”.
The Permanent Secretary expressed delight at the resolution of the Council for its eight sub-committees to hold a meeting to discuss their challenges, way forward and how the Government can mitigate and help overcome them. She urged the members to conclude discussions and deliberate on other issues that will emanate at the meeting, with a strategic focus on coming up with actionable recommendations that will further strengthen and drive the development of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in the State.
Ososanya stressed the importance of encouraging the formalisation of MSMEs, which is very essential in accessing numerous benefits, including the ones being provided by the government, such as capacity building, improve business management practices and access to finance, information and markets among others.
The Director-General of Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN), Dr. Olawale Fasanya noted that Lagos is very important to the national economy because the State accounts for about 3.5 million Nano and Micro Enterprises.
“I commend Lagos State for the great work it is doing for MSMEs and I want to charge the State to do more. I also want to advise that critical enablers in the MSMEs ecosystem such as Development Partners, Financial Institutions, etc should be co-opted to support the State” he said.
Fasanya counselled MSMEs not to see finance but power as a significant challenge responsible for high operating costs that make their products not competitive locally and internationally, noting that energy security is a critical factor that can be surmounted through collaboration and shared facilities.
Describing the Lagos MSME Council as the most organised in the Federation, the Chairman of the Association of Small Business Owners (ASBON), Dr. Femi Egbesola harped on the need to cascade capacity building for Nano and Micro businesses to their levels, open more access to finance, drive more patronage for locally made products and services using the Procurement Act, provide international exposure and close the infrastructural gap that negatively impacts production.
He also called for more support for Business Membership Organisations (BMOs) to make them more active.
In their similar presentations, the representatives of the Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS) and Lagos Internal Revenue Service (LIRS), Dr. Oyindamola Ayibiowu and Dr. Folashade Coker respectively encouraged MSMEs to prioritise record-keeping as essential for filing tax returns. They said taxes are not paid for work not done and that business owners turning over less than 25 Million Naira are exempted from paying some categories of taxes.
The Council Meeting had representatives of government agencies, BMOs and other stakeholders in attendance and featured various presentations by SMEDAN, Sub-Committees on Infrastructure and Cost of Doing Business, Access to Finance, Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources, LASCOPA and others.