By Adedapo Adesanya
The Nigeria Customs Service (NCS) has announced plans to partner with the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) to boost trade, encourage local production, and ease cross-border trade.
This was made known by the Comptroller-General of Customs, Adewale Adeniyi, when he received the Director-General of SMEDAN, Mr Charles Oidi, and his team at the NCS headquarters in Abuja.
Mr Adeniyi stated that a dedicated SMEDAN team will be established at the NCS office to provide specialized assistance and facilitate seamless processes for small business owners in cross-border trade.
“The population of SMEs cannot be ignored. Whatever you do with them, you do it to strengthen the economy of the nation,” he said.
Nigeria largely depends on SMEs to provide jobs and drive the informal economy with the SMEDAN National Survey showing that this is done through 41 million micro-businesses and 73,000 small and medium enterprises. However, there are obstacles to their operations.
Responding, Mr Oidi said it was important to support the SMEs in the country, commending the NCS for their commitment to SMEs development, pledging to continue facilitating productive interactions between government agencies and the SMEs ecosystem.
“SMEDAN remains dedicated to identifying bottlenecks, designing inclusive solutions, and implementing effective strategies to support the growth of SMEs in Nigeria,” Mr Oidi said.
He also promised to strengthen the functionality of the agency to be able to boost the contribution of the sector to the Nigerian economy.
Modupe Gbadeyanka