The Director General of the Nigerian Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency, Charles Odii, has urged the Federal Government to give small and medium-sized businesses a quarter of all contracts.
He explained that this is so because SMEs employ over 60 million people and make up roughly 50% of the country’s GDP.
Speaking to reporters in Abuja on Wednesday, the DG stated, “The government is the largest employer of labour and the biggest spender of money. We want contract awards to help small businesses.
“Nonetheless, it implies that in order for small enterprises to be successful in obtaining government contracts, they must possess adequate resources.”
He added that in Nigeria, only “4% of businesses are large; 96% of businesses are small.”
Odii mentioned that the purpose of his last meeting with young legislators and small company owners was to gain a firsthand understanding of their problems, which primarily concerned money and costs.
He gave them his word that SMEDAN would lower production expenses for owners of small businesses.
“Many banks would like to provide finance, but they are unable to do so since small businesses are not set up properly to accept the funds.
“We will assist a minimum of one million entrepreneurs in organizing their companies to qualify for this kind of funding,” he continued.
