Managing Director/CEO of Peugeot Automobile Nigeria, Mr Ibrahim Boyi, has appealed to stakeholders to support Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs), describing the sector as having the capacity to absorb the nation’s growing workforce.
Mr Boyi made this call last week while speaking as the keynote speaker at the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) MSME Summit held in Maiduguri, Borno State, where he also noted that the current supply of about $3.7 trillion was low compared with the $8.9 trillion potential demand for MSME financing.
The automobile group boss noted that the MSMEs sector has made a total employment contribution of over 60 million persons and if given the needed support, funding and enabling environment will do a lot more.
“There are five major economic sectors that have thrived within the MSME sector in Nigeria, these are Wholesale/Retail Trade; Agriculture; Other Services; Manufacturing, Accommodation & Food Services. These sectors have made a total employment contribution of about 60 million persons, while 10 million persons from these statistics do not have Western Education,” he said.
Noting that quick implementation of innovative ideas set MSMEs apart, Mr Boyi enjoined participants at the summit and MSMEs in general formalize the operations of their various business as this will help them effectively position themselves to receiving necessary support to develop and scale up their businesses.
Affirming the bank’s continued support to MSMEs, the Managing Director of Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Mr Tony Okpanachi, noted that the bank has disbursed over N100 billion this year to over 95,000 MSMEs across various sectors of the economy.
Committing to helping small and medium scale business owners in the State and region grow their business, Mr Okpanachi noted that, “The bank is poised to enhance the access to finance for MSMEs in the commercial city of Maiduguri, Borno State and the North-East region of the country and thus rejuvenated to its blooming commercial city status after the insurgency experienced in the last 10 years.
The DBN boss corroborated the position of the automobile boss stating that, “MSME businesses owners need to get their businesses structured with bankable business plans”. The perceived absence of a bankable business plan and structure is responsible for their classification as high risk by banks and thereby unwilling to finance them.
Panel discussants at the summit included Romoke Adebo, Founder/CEO, Epicentre Global Events Limited; Rilwan Hassan, Executive Secretary, Kaduna State Scholarships and Loans Board; Fantis Mohammed, Founder, Santis Foods and Beverage Limited and Ibrahim Balami, MD/CEO, IBBA 36 Global Concept.
Dipo Olowookere 
Adedapo Adesanya