Edo Expresses Commitment to Grow MSME Sector, Attract Big Investors

By Dipo Olowookere

Governor Godwin Obaseki of Edo State has expressed his determination to provide an enabling environment for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMES) sector in the state.

According to him, any entity that intends to grow its economy must treat the sector well because it has the huge tendency to lift many people out of poverty than big corporations.

Speaking on the occasion of the International Day for Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises, celebrated on June 27, the Governor said lauded the resilience of men and women across the world, who have continued to champion MSMEs despite poor access to finance, entrepreneurship education and other forms of support.

Mr Obaseki explained at the event that the decision to create a separate ministry for Cooperatives, Employment and Wealth Creation in Edo State was informed by his administration’s conviction that MSMEs needed a special government agency to address their peculiar challenges, such as registration and formalisation, entrepreneurship education, access to finance, location, amongst others.

According to him, one of the major goals of his administration is to grow the MSME sector alongside his commitment to attract big ticket investments, to be sited in the Benin Industrial Park, the Benin River Port project in Gelegele, the car assembly plant and the 1800 housing-unit Emotan Garden project amongst others.

“MSMEs are major arteries of economic growth that deserve the support of world leaders and development partners.

“MSMEs occupy a strategic position in our wealth creation efforts, especially in developing countries as they have continued to pull millions of people out of poverty through job creation and the provision of goods and services to communities, far flung from major cities hosting large scale companies,” he said.

The Governor informed participants of the event that the several “innovation hubs planned for the state will graduate tech entrepreneurs of the state government’s support to scale up their operations and compete on the global tech space.”