Kwara Signs MSME Bureau Bill to Improve Business Environment

By Modupe Gbadeyanka

A bill aimed to improve the business environment of Kwara State has been signed into law by Governor AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq.

A statement issued on Sunday by the Chief Press Secretary (CPS) to the Governor, Mr Rafiu Ajakaye, disclosed that the bill, Bureau of Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises Bill, will create an agency to drive investments and development in the microeconomic sub-sector in the state.

Business Post reports that the bill establishing the bureau was passed on March 9, 2022, by the Kwara State House of Assembly.

According to him, the MSME Bureau Bill will initiate and articulate ideas for MSME policy thrust in the state, serve as a vanguard and focal point for rural industrialisation, poverty alleviation and eradication, technology acquisition and adaptation, job creation and sustainable livelihood, according to the law.

“It will promote and facilitate development programmes, instruments and support services to accelerate development, mobilisation, networking and linkage of MSMEs, mobilise internal and external resources, including technical assistance for MSME institutions, trade associations, and non-governmental organisations, oversee, coordinate and monitor developments in the MSME subsector, design, package and promote cottage, MSMS industrial projects,” the statement said.

The statement further said the 36 sections and five parts law will also serve as a database as it is empowered to, among other things, demand for and obtain relevant information, data and reports on activities relating to the promotion and development of MSMEs from banks, research and development institutions and other support organisations.

It will also provide industrial extension services to micro, small and medium scale enterprises, fabricators of machinery, and beneficiaries of micro-credit loans.

The law also establishes a governing board for the bureau, with its leadership and members to be drawn from across various sectors and senatorial districts in the state.