Ogbonnaya Ndukwe, Aba
Small scale business operators in Abia State have called on the Federal Government to create an enabling environment for the development and growth of micro entrepreneurial activities. They said the provision of an authentic database for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) would assist the operators in reaching out to their colleagues in other locations and provide needed platforms for cooperation among them.
President of Abia State Chapter of National Association of Medium and Small Enterprises (NASME), Onuoha Kalu, who spoke on the occasion of the World MSMEs Day celebrations, said there was need for the provision of a secured environment for business to thrive in all parts of the country, even as touts should be removed from operation as agents of the various government agencies on issues of taxes, levies and other fees collection.
He said the lockdown occasioned by the Coronavirus pandemic had negatively affected artisans and other low income earners in the private sector leaving many of them jobless and unable to cater for their families and appealed to government to come to their aid by introducing measures that would identify and take control of their needs, as they worked for the advancement of the nation’s economy.
While urging government to create an avenue for registered MSMEs to have access to guaranteed grants and loans of between N10 million and N20million, with little or no collateral, for business development, the MSME President, called for the sustenance of the N-Power programme aimed at providing jobs for over 500,000 citizens. He stressed that such social intervention programme, if fully supported by relevant agencies of government,would provide needed employment to youths now roaming the streets in search of what to do.
