VP Osinbajo At Launch Of Anambra State MSME Clinic On 12/04/2018

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT, FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA, AT THE MSME CLINIC HELD IN ONITSHA, ANAMBRA STATE ON THURSDAY, 12TH APRIL, 2018.

I am happy to be here for the Anambra edition of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Clinic. This is my first visit to the State, since Governor Willie Obiano was re-elected for a second term in office. In the course of the past three years, we have developed a friendship based on our mutual belief that government must be about total commitment for the bettering of the lives of the people.  I take this opportunity to extend my sincere and heartfelt congratulations and to you, and to wish you an even more successful second tenure.

Anambra State is well recognised across the country as a leading manufacturing centre, which was why in one of my previous visits, I devoted time to visit various manufacturing firms in the State, including notably in Onitsha and Nnewi; these are zones here which have carved a niche for themselves as industrial hubs, not just in Anambra State, but in Nigeria.

Of course, Anambra State is also the home of commerce.  The Onitsha market has been legendary for a very long time given its size and vibrancy, and a tribute to the entrepreneurial spirit, hard work and dynamism of the people of this great State.

The current Federal Government is committed to working with the Anambra State Government to create a better life for all who live, work and carry out their businesses here.  In the past three years, we have demonstrated an abiding commitment to facilitating genuine efforts by all the States of the Federation to attract investment, diversify their economic base, and deliver lasting prosperity to their people. The holding of this MSME Clinic here today is further demonstration of that commitment.

It is of course well known, that MSMEs have tended to be neglected in this country over the years.  This is partly as a result of competing priorities and a tendency sometimes to discount the real contribution to the national economy.

As individual units, MSMEs may be small but together they account for up to 50% of Gross Domestic Product and over 80% of the Nigerian labour force. It therefore follows, that they are of decisive importance in the national economy.  This is more so now, that it has become inevitable for us to look inwards so as to, and I quote the President here: “grow what we eat and consume what we make”.

The MSME Clinics were conceived in this context, and they are designed to bring regulatory agencies whose work affects the business experience of MSMEs nearer to them.  This will enable MSMEs to bring their business problems to regulatory agencies for solution outside the formal and sometimes intimidating offices of these agencies.  Of course, having all the agencies in one location at the same time, the MSMEshave the opportunity of meeting with those regulatory agencies without the travel time and cost of going to different agencies at their various locations.

These MSME clinics we have organized over the past few months, have enabled regulatory agencies to gain a better understanding of the difficulties that small businesses face and caused them to take steps to remedy the situation where required.  For instance, several agencies have reduced the cost and timelines for service delivery to small businesses.  Since the launch of this programme last year, it has been easier for small businesses to access funds, because the Bank of Industry, Development Bank of Nigeria and NEXIM Bank have used it to expose their products and increase their loans to MSMEs.

NAFDAC has made it easier to do business, by reducing the cost and waiting time for product registration for small businesses.  What used to take 8 months now takes 3 months.  On its part, the Corporate Affairs Commission now registers businesses within 48 hours and also carry out registration during the Clinics at reduced prices.  So we moved the Corporate Affairs Commission round, so that they are able to see for themselves, the difficulties people go through in registering businesses. This is what has led us to correct the time it takes to register businesses in Nigeria, and it is a constant check.

Just last week, I was on the phone with the director responsible for the registration of companies, letting him understand some of the problems people were experiencing. We want to be extremely hands-on on business regulation in Nigeria, so small businesses can have the very best service from regulatory agencies. Regulatory agencies must not be obstacles, they must be facilitators of business.

The Nigerian Export Promotion Council and the Standards Organisation of Nigeria have both slashed their charges on various products and services, just to support small and medium enterprises.

To foster continuity after the Clinics, at least five State Governments have set up ‘One-Stop Shops’ that bring all the relevant agencies together in one place, so as to enable small businesses access their services on an on-going basis with relative ease.

Another idea emerging from the Clinics is the establishment of shared facilities for MSMES based on partnerships between the Federal Government and interested States. You will see that the Bank of Industry is one of the major facilitators of all of these services.

The idea is that MSMEs that do not have financial capacity to purchase their own equipment, should be able walk into a fully equipped cluster style facility and pay a reasonable amount to use such equipment.  Where possible, the facility would have already been certified by relevant agencies.

Another thing that has been introduced in the course of implementing the MSME Clinics, is the use of the clinic as a platform for widening the reach of the Government Enterprise and Empowerment Programme GEEP.  This is our micro-credit facility that we give to several businesses and His Excellency, the Governor, has already told us how many are benefitting from those microcredits.

Governor Willie Obiano is already working hard to unlock the potential of MSMEs in the State through the Anambra State, Small Business Agency (ASBA).  I therefore expect that the agency will also consider taking forward, some of the ideas and processes that have emerged from the Clinics, such as the establishment of ‘One Stop Shops’ here in Anambra State which has all of the regulatory agencies such as NAFDAC, SON, CAC, and some of the other agencies in one facility here, and of course ‘common facilities for business clusters’.

I know that ASBA is already doing very excellent work on clusters, and I have seen some of the examples as we looked round the stalls. So it is very obvious, that the cluster style of promoting small businesses is already thriving here, and we will certainly support you to create more clusters so that our people can do better work.

In rounding off, let me state that the partnership between the Federal Government and Anambra State is not limited to just National MSME Clinics. The State as you have heard, is also benefitting and collaborating with us on the National School Feeding, as the Federal Government in collaboration with the State Government, is currently feeding over a 103,000 school children, engaged 1004 cooks in over 1,600 schools across Anambra State.

N-Power, as you have seen, and there are many N-Power beneficiaries here, is also working with young graduates and creating opportunities for young graduates to be engaged. When you look at what we are trying to do with N-Power, we are trying to refine the programme such that it is not just about earning a small amount at the end of the month, teaching, agric or n-power build, rather we are trying to ensure that N-Power beneficiaries are able to stand on their own in the future. Each N-Power beneficiary learns entrepreneurial skills, learns skills to enable them become business persons and become professionals on their own. So we are going to support N-Power as much as we can, and we are bringing several others on board.

Already, we have pre-selected for Anambra State alone, about 11,039 new entrants to the N-Power scheme, and we hope that this second batch will be launched very shortly.

The GEEP Market Moni is not left out, as there are 3,877 beneficiaries of the scheme from the State, and we intend to increase that number so that more traders and artisans can benefit from the scheme.

Finally, let me say that the Federal Government is a government for all Nigerians, and we shall continue to work very hard to ensure peace and progress all around the country in partnership with State Governments.  After all, the progress of our States is the progress of Nigeria.  Indeed, Anambra State’s progress is Nigeria’s progress, and I am very happy to see incremental progress every time I visit this State, we see new things happening, we see much more progress and peace.

So again, I would like to thank Governor Willie Obiano for his warm hospitality and the good people of Anambra State for being so warm and welcoming.

God bless Anambra State, God bless the Federal Republic of Nigeria.