From Ogbonnaya Ndukwe, Aba
History was made on December 8 as members of the Aba business and artisanship community, under the auspices of Coalition of Business Groups and Associations (COBGAN), and the African Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (AASME) inaugurated the first SME-driven entrepreneurship training and development centre in Aba, Abia State.
Daily Sun gathered that the school is meant to be the bedrock of economic growth in the South East by providing, coordinating and developing innovations in SME management development.
Located in the commercial city centre, the institution will also be a hub for business activities for the West African sub-region, in line with a programme instituted by the International Council for Small Business in the United States of America (ICSB-USA), of which the AASME is a community member affiliate.
Officials of the federal and state governments, ministries and non-ministerial departments, security operatives, the organized and informal business groups attended the momentous event. Guest lecturers made presentations on the “Importance of entrepreneurship education,” “Knowledge development hub,” and Peace-building in developing democratic economy like Nigeria,” among others.
President of AASME, Dr. Darlington Kalu, said the commercial and industrial city was accommodating a large percentage of micro, small and medium enterprises, working to provide day-to-day basic needs of the Nigerian masses but without much education.
According to him, this teeming population of low-level workers was actually the heartbeat that drives economic growth and development in any country, as they provide jobs for the greater populace, major raw materials as well as ancillary needs of large industrial establishments.
Kalu noted that, since most of these workers do not measure to approved standards of getting assistance from financial houses or the government to improve their business status to meet international requirements, his group sought ideas and came out with the programme. This would organize them in clusters, then make them become visible, together, openly identifiable and exposed to evolving developments in the new world.
He lauded the African Union and ECOWAS Commission, International Documentary Association (IDA-USA), Federal Government of Nigeria and the governments of Kano, Lagos, Abia and Bayelsa states for keying in and partnering with his group to make the venture’s takeoff, a success: “AASME is totally working on the development of small and medium enterprises, to catch up with possible investors in the sub-sectors of the economy through the provision of needed assistance in knowledge, innovations and creativity.
“We have in the past participated in government policy programmes that included finding solutions for lack of funding for small businesses, especially those engaged in production and manufacturing of household needs who do not have financial backup to improve, standardize or expand their production bases.”
“While relevant authorities, including the office of the President of Nigeria, Federal Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment, The Inspector General of Police, National Board for Technical Education (NBTE), Nigeria Diaspora Commission and Abia State Government, are currently working in various aspects of the over 35 components of the programme, we are still open to partnerships, collaborations and sponsorships efforts to develop and grow the nation’s economy, through the small scale enterprises.”
As a member of Abia State Long-Term Development Plan Vision 2020 -2050, Kalu added that the group introduced clusters as an emerging and very important aspect in the development of MSME products and operations in the state.
He commended Governor Umar Ganduje of Kano State for the construction of a textile market with 4,750 shops, and creating micro finance banks operating in all the 44 council areas of the state as well as provision of adequate funding for MSMEs in his state.
Lagos, Bayelsa and Abia were also lauded for their governments’ friendly posture towards small-scale enterprises. In fact, these states, after recognizing the huge role played by shoe, leather, bag and garment producers, created an independent Ministry for Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME), for better coordination of the affairs of the sector.