The Director-General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Mr. Umar Dikko has hailed Osun State for creating an enabling environment for small businesses to thrive.
Speaking at the 2019 Osun Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise opportunities open fair in Osogbo, the director-general said Osun State government with upgrade of infrastructure had made businesses easy to operate and has allowed SMEs to grow rapidly.
Umar, who was represented by the agency’s Director, Enterprise and Development Promotion, Mr. Elvans Monday, explained that the major priority of SMEDAN is to promote “made in Nigeria products and services” as well as enhancing the competitiveness of SMEs.
He said Osun State government has done tremendously well in making SMEs to thrive.
He said: “The agency is positioned as a ‘One Stop Shop’ for growing and resuscitating micro, small and medium enterprises in the country and we must commend the state government of Osun for having done much in this regard.
“Our job in Osun has been made so easy because of the efforts of the state government, especially on the creation of an enabling environment, which has helped small businesses to grow.”
In his keynote address, Governor Gboyega Oyetola, who opened the five-day fair tagged, “Expanding Market Frontiers for MSMES”, expressed his administration’s readiness to keep supporting the growth of medium and small scale businesses.
He said doing so would boost the state’s economy.
The governor, who was represented at the event by the Supervisor for Finance, Mr. Bola Oyebamiji, described Osun economy as one dominated by the informal sector.
The governor said he was delighted at the impressive attendance of participants at the fair, noting that event would positively impact on lives of many Osun business operators.
He hailed SMEDAN for performing “tremendously well” since it was created, acknowledging that the agency’s many programmes have touched millions of lives across Nigeria.
The governor said the SMEDAN’s performance was a testament of its achievements in stimulating and developing MSMEs across the country.
Source: The Nation