Bayelsa State Governor, Hon.
\nSeriake Dickson has identified lack of access to finance and skills as major challenges to the growth of small businesses in the state.<\/p>\n
Dickson stated this at the opening ceremony of the 20
\nth International Conference on Small and Medium Enterprises Wednesday at Government House, Yenagoa.<\/p>\n
Dickson, according to a statement by his Chief Press Secretary, Mr. Daniel Iworiso -Markson, tasked delegates to the conference to proffer solutions to the challenges bedeviling the sub-sector.<\/p>\n
The governor\u00a0 announced his administration’s injection of N20 billion into SME development, and promised to swell the fund to N30 billion.<\/p>\n
The Bayelsa State Chief Executive, said a bill would be forwarded to the State House of Assembly to provide a legal framework for the establishment of an SMEs Trust Fund.<\/p>\n
According to him, \u201cthe move is to guarantee the security of the funds for stakeholders and develop a robust SMEs programme for the empowerment of the people.<\/p>\n
Governor Dickson hailed the World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises, WASME for granting Bayelsa the hosting right. He affirmed that the conference was taking place at a time when efforts were heightened to diversify the economy from oil and gas.<\/p>\n
Listing\u00a0 efforts made by his administration for wealth creation and poverty reduction in the state, Governor Dickson said with the Bayelsa Geographical Information System BGIS in place, the citizenry could easily access finance with their assets.<\/p>\n
Minister of Trade, Industry and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga commended the state\u2019s untiring efforts at developing the entrepreneurial ability of the citizenry as well as building the innovative capacity of enterprises in the state.<\/p>\n
The minister was represented by the Director General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, Alhaji
\nBature Masari,<\/p>\n
He noted that SMEs
\nprovide employment opportunities to 32.4 million Nigerians and stressed the need for all stakeholders to tackle the problems facing the sector.<\/p>\n
Also speaking, Director General of Securities and Exchange Commission, Dr. Arunma Oteh, described the state\u2019s SME fund, SME Council and Micro Finance Agency as laudable steps, that would boost entrepreneurship.<\/p>\n
She, however, suggested that government should consider the setting up of business incubators to provide, not just financial support to SMEs, but also nurture them to grow into bigger productive engines of growth.<\/p>\n
The Senior Special Assistant to Governor Dickson on SMEs, Mr. Ebiekure Eradiri, remarked that, the government has created an SMEs database to effectively manage the sub sector, noting that, Bayelsa was the 7<\/p>\n
th state to respond as well as comply with the Federal Government\u2019s directive on the establishment of the SMEs state council on NEDEP.<\/p>\n
In a keynote address, the United Nations Aids Ambassador and Chairman\/co-Founder of Africa Rising Foundation, Mr. Ndaba Mandela, said Africa Rising is an organization dedicated to creating a conducive environment for entrepreneurs to thrive in the continent.<\/p>\n
According to him, SME is the
\ncentre of any economy and the foundation is established to ensure, that young people have access to technology and information to empower themselves and take full advantage of the opportunities that exist.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere opportunities do not exist, the foundation creates them. Africa is rising, has helped to groom young minds, so that their dreams will soar beyond reality and Africa can prosper\u201d noted Mandela.<\/p>\n
Acting Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Mr. Waheed Olagunju, said the conference would provide the opportunity to achieve the objectives of NEDEP to enable Bayelsans become more productive, noting that for over 50 years, the bank has been supporting SMEs in Africa and other parts of the world.<\/p>\n
President of the World Association of Small and Medium Enterprises, WASME, Alhaji Babale Girei, dwelt on the concept and challenges of SMEs, stressing that, small businesses have been the engine of growth for every country and represents over 90 per cent of industrial enterprises of most developing countries.<\/p>\n
He reminded that SMEs constitute the backbone of the developed and less developed economies and has been identified as a highly potential sector for employment generation and provision of livelihood to millions of people in Africa, Asia and Latin American countries.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Bayelsa State Governor, Hon. Seriake Dickson has identified lack of access to finance and skills as major challenges to the growth of small businesses in the state. Dickson stated this…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":24759,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_lmt_disableupdate":"","_lmt_disable":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[5],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26005","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-news"],"yoast_head":"\n