Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajiya Mariam Yelwaji Katagum, has said the newly launched National MSMEs database will provide detailed information on the enterprises across the country.
Katagum was speaking in Abuja on Monday at the launch of the National MSMEs database and portal by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).
“Understanding that the absence of data is one of the biggest problems facing our country, particularly as regards purposeful and effective planning, SMEDAN has moved a step further by developing the National MSMEs database which seeks to provide more detailed information of the MSMEs.
“The first phase of the national database captured MSMEs in 2018 in commercially active states of Kano, Abia Lagos and Ogun. The harvested database from other states will gradually be uploaded into the national database portal as funds are made available,” she said.
She said the purpose of this National MSMEs database is to give a face and identity to a large number of MSMEs which, by the recent survey by SMEDAN and the NBS, is put at 41 million providing about 60 million jobs.
The National MSMEs database is expected to amongst others, guide in decision making, furnish stakeholders with vital MSMEs information such as listing sector by sector, location, products and services among others.
The DG of SMEDAN, Dr Umaru Dikko Radda, said for the agency’s programme to be impactful, it cannot rely on perceptions, hence the need to collate data of MSMEs across the country.
“The agency is paying attention to veritable data and the need to continuously update them, hence the need for this project and the portal we are launching today.
“Going forward, the agency intends to intensify effort in the area of business development services. Periodic evaluation of MSMEs who have benefited from loans and business support system and to do this effectively, we need data,” Dr Radda stated.
The GMD/CEO of Dun and Bradstreet, Rajesh Mirchandani who collated the data in this first phase, said the information they have been gathered will improve and scale up the ecosystem of MSMEs.
National Vice President of Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), North Central, Engineer Auwal Ibrahim Bununu, asked SMEDAN to collaborate with the private sector to get more information on MSMEs in all sectors.
“We call for more collaboration on this laudable programme. Let them use some of us in the private sector as agents to reach SMEs in all the sectors,” Bununu said.
