Director General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency (SMEDA), Dr Dikko Umaru Radda, has identified lack of access to affordable finance as the major obstacle militating against the growth of small and medium businesses in the country.
Dr. Radda stated this in Lokoja Wednesday during a sensitisation and awareness creation programme on the proposed Small and Medium Enterprises Rating Agency (SMERAN) organised by the agency for stakeholders in Kogi state.
The director general who was represented by the North-central zonal coordinator of SMEDAN, Charity Abah, lamented that in spite of the pivotal role of the sector in boosting the economy of the country, it was plagued by a myriad of challenges which include lack of management skills, lack of access to finance and lack of access to local, regional and global markets among others.
He said majority of the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) in Nigeria are operating as informal entities, adding that as a result of the challenges, the sector do not have the capacity to maintain minimum corporate governance standard.
“Also as a result of this, most fund providers do not feel confident extending loans to enterprises whose track records are neither known to them nor easily verifiable which ultimately contributed to the inability of MSMEs to access affordable credit,” he stated.
