76% of employed Nigerians work for MSMEs —Nigerian govt

Mariam Yalwaji Katagum, Minister of State for Industry, Trade, and Investment has disclosed that the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) sector employs around 76 percent of Nigeria’s workforce.

The Minister stated this at the maiden edition of National Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises Discourse with the theme “Little beginnings; Huge Impact” as part of the activities lined up for the celebration of the National MSME Week in Abuja.

She also added that MSMEs holds about 50 percent to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and can play a pivotal role in stimulating economic growth and providing employment to vulnerable groups such as youth, women, and the poor.

“MSMEs make up over 90% of all firms globally and account, on average, for 60 – 70% of the total employment and 50% of GDP worldwide.

“To this end, the Federal Government of Nigeria has continued to explore possible interventions to cushion the effect of the economic downtime, especially on micro, small and medium businesses by providing palliatives to enable recovery, sustenance and improvements under the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP).

“Some of these interventions include the MSME Survival Fund and Guaranteed Offtake Scheme.

Also, it is imperative to know that no nation can develop its economy without concerted efforts that facilitate private sector participation, financing and improving social services delivery hence the Federal Government will continue to provide an enabling environment by ensuring that policies and programmes towards MSMEs development are deliberately designed to yield the desired results,” the Minister stated.