The Federal Government has tasked global development partners to ensure that the socio-economic projects, which they embarked on in Nigeria, are designed to be functional and meet the most popular needs in the country.
Minister of Trade and Investment, Olusegun Aganga, stressed that the activities of the international development partners (IDPs) in the Nigerian economy should be demand-driven and tailored to the nation's specific needs.
He explained that Nigeria and its development partners must agree on the country's priority areas for productive channeling of resources.
Aganga spoke during a meeting with representatives of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID), European Union (EU), United Nations Industrial Development Organisation (UNIDO), United Kingdom's Department for International Development (DfID) and the German Development Cooperation in Abuja recently.
"We have realised that there has been a sort of communication gap between us and the international development partners. It doesn't seem to me as if they fully understand what our plans, strategies and areas of priorities are. For me, it is critical that if they are here to assist, it should be demand-driven. It should not be driven by what they want to do in the country but what we need in the country.
"And in order to bridge that gap, I felt it was important that I met with them to explain the four areas that we are focusing on, what our objectives are and the work we are doing in each area, and then to get them to work with us to achieve our objectives," he said.
The minister pointed out that the meeting with the International Development Agencies (IDAs) was borne out of the need to effectively coordinate and channel efforts and resources of all stakeholders into critical areas of SME development in order to achieve the ministry's mandate of creating jobs, generating wealth and transforming Nigeria's economy.
"If we channel our efforts and resources together, and support SMEs, for instance, they will be the drivers of economic growth; job creation and poverty alleviation. Most countries base their economic development, growth and job creation strategy on SMEs. That is the big area we want to focus on," the minister explained.
He also disclosed that his ministry, in collaboration with the IDAs, was finalising plans to set up a special task force to fast-track the growth and development of Small and Medium Enterprises across the country.
He noted that, given the strategic role of SMEs in the ministry's Industrial Revolution Plan in terms of job creation and wealth generation, there was a need to harmonise the efforts and activities of all stakeholders in the SME sector, including the IDAs, to achieve optimal results.
Aganga said, "Globally, Small and Medium Enterprises are the drivers of economic growth and job creation. For us in the Ministry of Trade and Investment, this is where we have the opportunity to make the biggest change considering the current unemployment situation in our country.
"We have just completed our database for SMEs, which showed that there are 17.6 million SMEs in the country employing about 33 million people and contributing about 45 percent to the country's Gross Domestic Product.
“However, most of the SMEs, about 65 percent of them, are in the rural areas. Therefore, to reach the rural areas, we need to have a robust strategy to make sure that they are included in our financial inclusion strategy and that we work with them so that they can start new businesses.
