VP Osinbajo At the National MSME Summit In Abuja On 01/12/2015

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REMARKS BY HIS EXCELLENCY, PROF. YEMI OSINBAJO, SAN, GCON, VICE PRESIDENT OF THE FEDERAL REPUBLIC OF NIGERIA AT THE NATIONAL MSME SUMMIT IN ABUJA ON THE 1^ST OF DECEMBER, 2015

MSMEs engage the largest numbers of people, especially in the commercial space. This is the largest number of people, about 37million. I think the last survey done by SMEDAN shows that there were 37million MSMEs engaging over 60million Nigerians. And this is the same everywhere in the world, practically every country in the world.

90% of enterprises in the EU are MSMEs, one kind or the other. Practically anywhere in the world, we all know that this is the heart of commerce; this is the heart of the economy. But a lot of the talk and a lot of the discussions appear to mainly re-state the problems, and the problems are very many, but somehow we have been short on the solutions, short on how to really open up this space such that entrepreneurs and those we have seen this morning are able to access finance, they are able to run their businesses in a manner that benefits not just themselves, but benefits the nation and their communities.

What I would like us to focus on really are the practical issues that require some talking about and some dealing with; those very practical matters that we have to deal with in order to open up this space properly. For example, the Honorable Minister talked about access to finance and of course access to information as being one of the major hindrances to MSME growth in Nigeria. And that is entirely true, but it’s not because there is no finance, and it’s not because there are no programmes of opportunities.

For example, you know of course, that there is a N220billion MSME fund by the Central Bank, there is also YOUWIN, there is that project the one that’s under finance. There is Growth and Employment Project (GEM), the one run by the Ministry of Trade and Industries. There is FAFIN (Fund for Agricultural Finance in Nigeria), the agriculture one. There are many programmes, many of them funded, but the question of course is, who actually gets these funds? I just went through this exhibition a few minutes ago, where we saw several entrepreneurs, many that are being funded by the Bank of Industry; and several others who are in search of funds, several others who are in search of opportunities, but it appears that the opportunities are there, but those who need to access the opportunities are also there. But there is no connection, or it is extremely difficult for them to find the connection. I think one of the critical reasons why this is the case is because we are somehow not required to actually account for each and every person that is receiving this funding.

I think it’s very important going forward, that all of us in this sector, especially those of us on the government side. It is important that we must sit together and work out a way by which we are able to actually measure all of these deliverables in this sector. For example, we know that we’re supposed to find a certain number of people. Who are these people? Can we verify them? Can we verify who these specific individuals are? How much are they getting? In what ways are their performances measurable and how do we measure their performances? I think that all of this is absolutely important. To cut a long story short, we need a very effective monitoring and evaluation, so that we can then address where exactly the gaps and the shortfalls are. But today, it is evident that the programmes are there, it is evident that the resources are there, it is also evident that entrepreneurs are there, those who want to get links are there, but we need to make that the very important link between the two. The other thing that I’d also want to talk about is the fact that, several of these programmes, several government programmes just seem to be all over the place.

I think there is a need for us to coordinate the efforts, there is need for us to work together. SMEDAN is supposed to be coordinating a lot of the work, but everybody has a bright idea, every agency has a bright idea about MSMEs. So in some cases you find that there are overlaps that are not necessary and we can really work at ensuring that we streamline all of these different programmes, and the different interventions. We can work at streamlining them because if we don’t streamline them, a lot of waste results and of course, a lot of inactivity too, on accounts of having just far too many people playing from the same sources, but playing in different areas and sometimes, playing in the same States without any kind of coordination.

My respectful view is that without doing something very serious about the ease of doing business, we are going to be far away from achieving many of our objectives. We are at the moment, on some of the surveys that I am sure many of us are familiar with, very low on the ease of doing business index. In other words, we are one of the more difficult places in the world to do business. Changing that whole paradigm is not really rocket science; it is about the determination on our part to ensure that we are able to clean up our environment and make things work. If you look at countries that have succeeded in moving up the scale on the ease of doing business, they have simply decided, and when I say they, I talk mainly about the regulatory authorities of our government; simply decided that we are going to make this work. What do we need to do in terms of granting licenses, granting permits? How do we intend to sort that out? We must decide that it must not take X number of days or there is a maximum number of days to get a permit or to get a license.

We must accept that if the regulatory authorities make it so difficult for a person to get a license or to get a permit, then there is something wrong with that system and we have to fix that system. For example, I was speaking to somebody in the power sector who has been finding it extremely difficult to get the necessary approvals for almost 2 years. This is an investor who is bringing in his or her own capital. If someone wants to bring in capital and we’re not saying this is an illegal business. You say you want the capital, you need the capital anyway, and somehow you cannot make the deal happen. Then, there is something wrong with that system and it’s up to us to fix it.

As I said it’s not spirits that fix things, it is men and women like you and me who fix these things. I think I would like a lot of time, energy and resources spent talking about how to fix things in this particular MSME Summit, just so that it doesn’t end up being one of these many occasions we gather and talk and say very nice things, and go back to our everyday lives and routines that have made everyday life, and business, practically impossible all these many months and many years. I would just like to say also that, when you look at the situation today in terms of the economy, obviously there are many problems, many challenges. A lot of those challenges, if you look at the Nigerian spirit, you find that the Nigerian is still able to say things are looking good; things are going to get better. We are very hopeful people, we are a very resilient people, very entrepreneurial, very strong, and we can basically weather any storm.

I think that all of that is important for us to channel that to growing business in this country. It is the commitment of the government under President Buhari to ensure that we are able to give every Nigerian a fair chance, a fair opportunity to do business, to be able to go through government procedure without having to pay bribes or without having to do things that are illegal. We also very strongly believe that everything that is meant to facilitate business ought to be made to work. That is the reason why we have worked fairly hard at trying to restructure the public service in a way that we are able to find men and women who will be able to deliver on the promises of the administration. The Ministers are in place now; a lot of work went into picking those who the President would consider the right people for those positions.

Frankly, I think that we are in a good place. I think that with the set up that we have, with the Ministers who are in place, the Permanent Secretaries who are in place and all of the individuals working on various agencies. We are in the right place to make real progress in this country; all that we need some commitment, some ability to keep our focus.

I was saying to a gentleman just yesterday that our problem is not in the great ideas, we have fantastic ideas, fantastic policies, but sometimes just keeping our eyes on the ball long enough, to be able to achieve it, is a problem. But I want to assure you that with this government, we are going to keep our eyes on the ball, we’re going to keep our focus. I want to ask everyone, all of you, who are going to be working with us and participating with us in events like this, to join us in keeping the focus, in just being committed to see that we get this country to run right and the first stage is business.

If we can get business running right, we can give the right opportunities to our young people and to all of those who are in the entrepreneurial space trying to get some work done. I think that we would all make really ample progress in this country. I am looking forward to seeing a great new Nigeria and especially the MSME space growing and prospering.

I have been talking to SMEDAN about MSMEs especially micro-businesses, the market women and the artisans and expanding this home space so that the market women and artisans get a fair chance to be able to grow their own businesses as well and these are millions, millions of Nigerians, who need to be assisted, who need to be helped with financial planning, who need to be helped with small loans so that they can also do their businesses, grow their businesses, employ labor and make a significant contribution to this country. I know that it’s going to work, and I want to wish you all very well in this summit.

I know that you will be coming across all manner of ideas and policies, but I just want you to bear in mind that we should let this be a different type of summit.

Let this be a summit where we are just talking about how to solve the problem. We all know what these problems are, let’s just talk about how to solve the problems. Thank you very much and with those few words, may I formally declare the summit open.

Thank you.