Adibe Emenyonu in Benin City
In order to enhance the ease of doing business in Edo State, stakeholders have identified inadequate electricity supply as one of the issues militating against the economic growth in the country.
They noted that while MSMEs have been recognised as key instruments for economic development, the ease of access to reliable and affordable power supply have remained a teething problem and significant determinant of their performance.
According to them, issues relating to power range from non-availability to dissatisfaction with tariff rates, noting that though the issue affects all classes of businesses, its effect on MSMEs was more significant because while the larger companies with big operational budgets can afford alternative means to power their productions, the same cannot be said of MSMEs.
They further noted that as electricity accounts for one of the largest components of operational costs for many MSMEs, their capacity to create jobs, reduce income inequality and decrease poverty was greatly limited.
The stakeholders who spoke at a one-day Public-Private Dialogue on Access to Power/Electricity in Benin City at the weekend, that was sponsored by the state government in conjunction with organised private sector with support from the Pro-Poor Growth and Promotion of Employment in Nigeria – SEDIN Programme, suggested the need for the Edo government through its relevant agencies to develop and implement policies that support the provision of reliable and affordable electricity to existing business clusters within the state through the CCET-Ossiomo power plant.
Additionally, they were of the opinion that new clusters should be created to join the existing ones like the Uwelu-Evbareke motor spare-parts market, the Agribusiness zone in Agenebode, the Igun street arts and craft market as well as the printing and branding market situated at First-East Circular Road for effective distribution of power.
Besides, the stakeholders were of the view that production centre initiative should be expanded to help address common challenges faced by MSMEs in the state including power, pointing out that in addition to collectively improving the electricity situation for a number of MSMEs, the project presents other benefits which includes increased productivity through economies of scale, access to information and better access to specialised labour and supply base.
According to them, “The state should facilitate a process that creates opportunity for its large and prosperous diaspora community to fund electricity infrastructure development by investing in mini-grids that can serve metered clusters of businesses.
Earlier in a keynote address, Edo State representative of Germany Agency-GIZ, Mrs. Blessing Oluwatosin Ajomoti, said the objectives behind the dialogue sessions was the agency’s approach to private sector-led advocacy in addressing business enabling environment constraints and bottlenecks to MSMEs development and growth in the state.
“The public-private dialogue is designed to bring stakeholders together in addressing cut-crossing issues especially those that affect growth of MSMEs in Edo State.
“It is also meant to have all stakeholders agree on workable action plans with timelines; create trust amongst stakeholders to aid collaboration between public and private sector in advancing growth of MSMEs in Edo State,” she declared.
