3m small businesses join mass registration scheme
By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
Three million Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) have so far registered with the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) under its mass registration scheme.
SMEDAN wants to build a database of the MSME sector, the driver of every economy which, in Nigeria, currently employs 59 million people spread across a plethora of enterprises in cities, towns, and villages.
SMEDA Director General Dikko Radda said the registration is meant to ensure more companies move from the informal to the formal sector where they will be better positioned to boost the economy.
In his view, one of the goals of the SMEDA board, which is mass registration and creation MSME marketplace database, is going well.
“We were able to register MSMEs with the SMEDAN unique identification number.
“The registration is seamless that you can just go into the website www.smedanregister.com and you will be able to register, get your unique identification number and print your certificate.
“That has been a very good effort and up-till-date we were able to register over three million MSMEs that have full details of their location, the kind of products and services that they provide and their contacts,” Radda said.
__________________________________________________________________
Related articles:
Female MSMEs get 60% of N150b fed grant
FirstSME account reinforces FirstBank’s commitment to SMEs, drivers of economic growth
Google to train entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Kenya, others
__________________________________________________________________
Expanding employment opportunities
Anyone who wants the products or services of MSMEs can now contact them directly through the SMEDAN database, Radda told the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN), reported by Nairametrics.
He listed other achievements of SMEDAN to include
- Increase in funding for SMEDAN
- Creating more employment opportunities for youths
- Improving the livelihoods of MSME operators
- National Business Development Initiative
- One Local Government, One Product (OLOP)
- Talent Hunt and Mind Shift
“One of the core problems that had hitherto confronted the development of the sub-sector is the lack of accurate, useable and up-to-date data on MSMEs in Nigeria, which could be helpful for both local and international stakeholders.”
Radda disclosed last year that 59 million Nigerians are employed by 41 million MSEMEs across the country.
...){kind=link}