The World Bank and the Central Bank of Nigeria have indicated interest to support the growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria.
The banks expressed dissatisfaction at the poor performance of SMEs in the country.
They spoke during a general meeting organised by the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Lagos on Wednesday.
Other institutions at the meeting are International Finance Corporation, Nigerian Stock Exchange, First Bank Nigeria Plc, Heritage Bank, Bank of Agriculture, and other stakeholders in the financial sector.
The financial institutions in different presentations identified inadequate access to finance as the major challenge facing SMEs in the country.
Representative of the World Bank, Mr. Micheal Wong, explained that the government should provide a platform that would aid easy access to funds for the growth of SMEs in the country.
He said, “Enterprise survey shows that labour is cheap but value added is low due to lots of constraints. Nigeria SMEs, access to finance is low compared to other African countries like Kenya. Most working capital is financed through internal funds.”
He noted that the World Bank had concluded plans to launch another scheme to support SMEs in Nigeria.
CBN representative, Jeremiah Abah, said SMEs contributed largely to the development of an economy.
He said the CBN was ready to intervene in the growth of SMEs in the country.