Jeff Amechi Agbodo, Onitsha
Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo, yesterday, said that the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) account for 50 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and over 80 per cent of the Nigerian labour force.
Osinbajo who was speaking at Onitsha, Anambra State during the National MSME Clinic for operators, government agencies and stakeholders responsible for the growth of MSMEs in Nigeria, said that it was designed to bring the regulatory agencies whose work affects business experience of small businesses nearer to them.
The Vice President who was accompanied to the state by the Minister of Labour and Employment, Senator Chris Ngige, and Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Okechukwu Enelamah, alongside the Special Adviser to the President on Social Investment, Mrs. Maryam Uwais, among others, on arrival inspected the exhibition stand of the various MSME operators where he expressed satisfaction on the programme aimed at bringing the regulators closer to the small business operators.
He said: “This is my first visit to Anambra since Governor Willie Obiano was reelected the governor of the state. For the past three years, you and I have developed friendship with people of the state based on our mutual belief that government must be about total commitment to improving the lives of the people.
“Anambra State is well recognised across the country as the leading manufacturing centre, which is why in one of my previous visits, I devoted my time visiting some of the manufacturing firms in the state especially notable ones in Onitsha and Nnewi.
These are zones in the state, which have carved a niche for themselves as industrial hubs and not just industrial hubs in Anambra State, but industrial hubs in Nigeria.