The federal government of Nigeria has urged small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country to increase their profits and improve their productivity. This advice was given by Nigeria’s Minister of Communications Technology, Mrs. Omobolaji Johnson.
She was speaking on the Fidelity Bank SME radio programme in Lagos, Nigeria. According to the minister, the recent launch of two major investments in the ICT sector -the MainOne data centre as well as the SecureID plants would support the growth of SMEs in the country.
With the aid of the MainOne facility she said SMEs in the country would be able to host their data locally and at affordable price instead of hosting such abroad. The SecureID plant on the other hand, the minister said would create a lot of employment opportunities for Nigerians.
She said: “What that means is that we are seeing more local investments in the ICT sector, beyond broadband, beyond device assembling, what it means is that people are beginning to see this sector and how much it can contribute to the development of our economy.
“So, we are also beginning to build these very high technical skills and also the low technical skills, and that is the beauty of the ICT industry.”
According to the minister, the objective of the Nigerian government is to encourage the participation of a lot of local entrepreneurs in the SME sector.
She said: “What we are trying to do is to create a level playing field. We are saying we don’t recognise multinationals, we do need them as a global industry, a global supply chain, but what we are trying to do is to create opportunities for local companies to thrive and to grow.
“We are ensuring that Nigerian companies participate more meaningfully in the very lucrative sector because the opportunities abound.”
She noted that SMEs that are ICT-enabled will be able to easily access the market and in return will increase their productivity.
“Those two things are critical for any start-up. From the beginning, as an SME, you need to have a website just to get your information out there.
“Again, what is happening is that a lot of organisations have this e-commerce platforms to sell their goods and services and that is what SMEs need to be aware of because there are lot that you can with technology,” she said.
