ENTREPRENEURS AND GOVERNMENT AGENDA
Government should create the enabling environment for small businesses to thrive, writes SEUN AWOGBENLE
Almost everywhere you look in Nigeria, there’s a young person starting a new business or managing an existing one. From start-ups to vocational and technical services, these small businesses are driving innovation, creating wealth and expanding access to opportunities.
To be an entrepreneur in our climate is to swim against the tide. You have to be made of something tougher, especially nerves of steel, to remain unfazed in the face of everything that could potentially be working against you. And these are mostly existential and systemic issues that are beyond the remit of entrepreneurs, enough to discourage anyone from starting at all. But despite these challenges, Nigerian entrepreneurs continue to defy the odds daily and have turned these challenges into opportunities.
Estimated at 37 million, small and medium enterprises account for more than 80 per cent of employment and 48 per cent of GDP. Despite their proven potential, these MSMEs continue to be impaired by limited access to capital and finance, infrastructural gaps and stifling regulation. For several years, previous governments failed to come up with a broad-based plan that could help Nigeria tap into the full potential of this segment of society. What we have seen from governments in the past were at best ad hoc efforts that could barely move the needle or deliver any material results. When in fact what we have always required, just as with the broader economy, were structural reforms that address the challenges fundamentally.
Despite the obvious neglect from previous governments, Nigeria’s entrepreneurship culture continued to thrive. Entrepreneurs began to create their own ecosystem and build a buffer around the inadequacies of government. But what we can all agree is that there’s only so much that can be achieved alone without government’s intentional effort. This much was restated during a recent stakeholder dialogue that was convened at the instance of the senior special assistant to the president on entrepreneurship development, Chalya Shagaya, at the Presidential Villa in Abuja.
A large number of entrepreneurs from different segments of the informal economy were brought together with policymakers and ecosystem partners as a way to align lived experience with policy solutions. The challenge in the past, as the chief of staff to the president, Femi Gbajabiamila, remarked at the event, is that interventions and policies have been disconnected from those who navigate it daily. He added that if policy is to be useful, it must be informed by lived experience. And if enterprise is to thrive, it must be supported by a system that understands it. In essence bringing the entrepreneurs and the people that matter into the same room was not only symbolic; it was exigent.
The event therefore served as an opportunity to take feedback directly from entrepreneurs and ensure that government policies are aligned with their realities. Speakers at the event, including Minister of Arts, Culture and Creative Economy Hannatu Musawa; Audu Maikori; Aisha Augie; Oswald Guobadia; Folake Soetan; and JJ Omojuwa, all echoed the same thing: entrepreneurs must remain at the centre of government policies and programmes through greater access to capital, removing stifling regulation, improving ease of doing business, infrastructure development, especially power, road and internet, and a stable economic environment by consolidating existing reforms.
One of the key points that was especially reechoed at the dialogue, which I also found very instructive, is that capital delivers impact when complemented with technical support, mentorship and collaboration. This is why the launch of Renewed Hope Entrepreneurship Bridge Initiative (RHEBI), a digital platform that connects entrepreneurs to financing, markets, mentorship, and institutional support, could not have come at a better time.
RHEBI would also be complemented by strategic partnerships with key private sector-led initiatives such as Cascador, a network that supports entrepreneurs with leadership, strategy, and access to capital, and African Business Heroes, a flagship programme of Alibaba Global Initiatives founded by Jack Ma, through its Digital Lions Programme. The partnership would ensure that entrepreneurs are not only able to raise capital but also deploy them effectively to achieve the highest returns and growth.
In addition to RHEBI, the President Bola Tinubu-led government has so far significantly reduced the tax threshold for small and medium businesses, provided grants, offered single-digit loans through the Bank of Industry (BOI) and implemented various skills programmes. At the sub-national level, governments have also realised that the only pathway to a strong economic future is to deliberately invest in young entrepreneurs.
While the dialogue has doubtless opened a new chapter in government-entrepreneurs’ relations. Government must now go further and faster to eliminate all barriers in the way of small businesses and ensure that we can maximise their contribution to the economy. We must also continue to remind ourselves that small businesses are the engine that fires the nation, and our nation is better off when our entrepreneurs have the enabling environment, capital and infrastructure that support their ideas.
Awogbenle, a development economist, writes from the United Kingdom. He can be reached via seunawogbenle@gmail.com.
