Mr. Olawale Fasanya, Director-General, Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) has said that Nigeria would host a D8-Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) forum towards the end of August 2022 as a way of boosting knowledge-sharing and productivity in the SME space.

Fasanya whose appointment as DG SMEDAN took effect from June 6, 2022 has outlined several programmes for both staff and SME operators to deepen performance in the critical sector which contributes a huge chunk of employment and wealth creation in Nigeria.

He told a group of senior journalists on Tuesday in Lagos that one of the activities lined up by the agency is the hosting of the D-8 Forum.

He referred to the D8 as “Developing-8 Organisation for Economic Cooperation specifically established for the development cooperation among the following countries: Bangladesh, Egypt, Indonesia, Iran, Malaysia, Nigeria, Pakistan and Turkey.”

The Secretary General of D-8 organization is Ambassador Isiaka Abdulqadir Imam, who operates from the D-8 secretariat in Istanbul, Turkey.

He said these are countries within the same development bracket with Nigeria, explaining that it was easier to exchange ideas with such countries, some of which have made a success of growing their SME sector.

Nigeria, according to Fasanya, is proposing to establish a D-8 Centre and to make this happen, SMEDAN has submitted a proposal to the D8 Secretariat.

He explained the reason for the Forum and establishment of the D-8 Centre: “This is intended to help promote, encourage, advance and support the activities of MSMEs at the national level as well as within the D-8 region to further strengthen economic, trade and commercial integration and linkages. The establishment of the D-8 Centre for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) will unleash substantial development impacts.

“Synergies between and among the Centre and relevant national agencies/authorities, D-8 Secretariat and other bodies will provide tremendous opportunities for MSMEs to connect and jointly explore opportunities on transforming scientific innovations at the national level into development solutions for the D-8 family.”

According to him, this informed why SMEDAN is currently working with the Ministry of Foreign Affairs; Ministry of Industry, Trade and Investment; Nigeria Export Promotion Council and other stakeholders to host a D8 SME forum in Nigeria.

To push for a higher participation and empowerment of women and youths in the SME ecosystem, Fasanya said SMEDAN has submitted a request to the Commonwealth Secretariat to access the Commonwealth’s technical assistance on Women and Youth Support Programs with specific focus on:

a.The training of women entrepreneurs on e-commerce known as “Digital Boot Camp” for women to know how to design their website and carry out trade across borders;

1. Participation in the activities of the Intra-Commonwealth MSME Association with the mandate to create a platform for MSMEs across the Commonwealth to meet, interact and trade through some partnerships;
2. Technical support for research activities by the Agency.

Other actions on the cards include a phased movement of SMEDAN head office to a more strategic and spacious address.

He said that “the present location of the Agency’s headquarters has become very inadequate and not easily accessible because of the massive vehicular traffic. The relocation, which is to begin towards the end of the year will create space for the Agency’s proposed Micro Finance Bank, MSME Innovation Hub, Training Resource Centre, SMEDAN FCT office, etc.”

To strengthen the operational efficiency of SMEDAN, he is pushing for the establishment of the SMEDAN Micro Finance Bank, aimed at addressing the peculiar challenges of MSMEs with regards to access to funds.

He noted that the Agency had in time past advocated for “special Funding window for MSMEs but this has not been achieved even with the creation of some development banks. Consequently, we are partnering with some BMOs as investors for the seamless take-off of the Bank.”