FCT Minister inaugurates 11-member MSMEs council

Minister of the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), Malam Muhammad Musa Bello, has inaugurated an 11-man Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) council for the FCT to stimulate small scale business in the narion’s capital.
According to the minister, “Establishment of the MSMEs Councils became necessary because of the unhealthy consequences of the fragmented approach to MSMEs development in the country.
“The Council will, therefore, act as aggregators across the states, coordinate the implementation of the National Policy on MSMEs as well as provide linkages and synergy among all stakeholders.
This is with the goal of ensuring the effective execution of the National Enterprise Development Programme (NEDEP)”, he explained.
Malam Bello who was represented by the FCT Permanent Secretary, Sir Christian Chinyeaka Ohaa, stated that the Council would “give greater impetus to economic diversification agenda of the Muhammadu Buhari Administration” and “facilitate efforts by the current Administration to improve its Nigeria’s rating in the Global Ease of Doing Business scale and also drive poverty alleviation and create jobs.” The Minister expressed commitment of the FCT Administration “to creating enabling environment and providing the necessary logistics for growing MSMEs and encouraging stakeholder engagement in the sector”, adding ” to this effect, we are strengthening the capacity of the Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA), to drive the sector in the FCT as well as to effectively function as the secretariat for the Council.”