GIZ, LSETF Meet with Stakeholders on MSME Recovery Advocacy Project

Yinka Olatunbosun

German Development Agency (GIZ) in collaboration with the Lagos State Employment Trust Fund (LSETF) had a workshop with stakeholders last week in Lagos to deliberate on the path to economy recovery for Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in Lagos.

With support of the Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria (SEDIN), the validation workshop, which was facilitated by Hakeem Onasanya highlights the issues raised in draft report on the MSME Recovery Advocacy project through a series of interactive sessions.

The Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria Programme (SEDIN) is one of the programmes implemented by the German Development Agency (GIZ) in Nigeria. The overall objective of SEDIN is to improve the employment and income situation of micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSME’s). To achieve the overall objective, SEDIN is working with both private and public institutions to improve the framework conditions, business-enabling environment and promote policies in favour of MSMEs, employment and local economic development.

In his opening address, the Director of Strategy Fund and Stakeholder Management at LSETF, Charles Anyawu said that the workshop was necessary to spark conversations that are key to understanding those who were significantly impacted by the pandemic and to work towards sustainable economic policies.

The validation report, which was presented by the Head of Consulting, Agusto Consulting, Mr. Jimi Ogbobine revealed the impact of Covid-19 on MSMEs in Lagos and offered some recommendations.

“96 per cent of businesses in Nigeria are MSMEs. When we are featured in the foreign media, we are often described as an oil rich nation but in actual fact, if we look at the job creation impact of MSMEs, we are actually an MSME rich country.”

Furthermore, he highlighted some of the dangers to MSME’s economic recovery after Covid-19 pandemic disruption including inflation, infrastructural and regulatory risks.

“Inflation is above 16 per cent, which means the value of naira that you hold in your hand is eroding fast. The CBN has an inflation target of between 6 and 9 per cent. If inflation is high, the banks rates will be high as well. Many of the MSMEs are import-driven, either directly or indirectly. We have financing and liquidity issues. Without cash flow, the business can become insolvent.’’

The Head of Programme, SEDIN, Mr. Marcus Wauschkuhn remarked that organization is keen on addressing the issues of employment and economic recovery.

“Our objective is to support MSMEs in Nigeria. We want to improve economic literacy and skills. A lot of people have technical skills but not economical skills,’’ he pointed out.