FG launches One-Stop-Shop for Nigerian MSMEs

In an effort by the Buhari administration to bridge the gap between Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSMEs) and relevant Federal Government regulatory agencies, like National Agency for Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), Standards Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS),  and ensure that those agencies become facilitators of businesses and not obstacles to business development.; the Federal Government has announced that it has launched a one-stop shop in Plateau State and intends to launch more across the country.

A statement from the Office of the Vice President this week, signed by his media aide, Laolu Akande, said the first one-stop shop was launched in Jos, Plateau State on August 24, 2017 and would be housed by the Plateau State Micro-Finance Development Agency (PLASMEDA).

He further explained that the MSME clinics will provide an on the spot opportunity for entrepreneurs and local producers in the MSME level to interact with regulatory agencies and facilitate smoother government regulations and interface between entrepreneurs and agencies.

The states next in line include Abia, Cross River, Ogun, Akwa Ibom, Kwara, Kano, Benue and the FCT. The One Stop-Shops are expected to be launched in the mentioned states by September and October and more of the one-stop shops are expected to be launched in other states before the end of the year.

The One Stop-Shop will also be a one-stop destination housing representatives of key government agencies under one roof where members of the public, entrepreneurs and potential entrepreneurs, can visit to engage with these agencies, make enquiries, report complaints and receive information that can boost their business plans and ideas.

The agencies to be housed in the One-Stop Shops include the Bank of Industry (BoI), Bank of Agriculture (BoA), CAC, FIRS, SON, NAFDAC, Industrial Training Fund (ITF), Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).

“The One-Stop Shop programme is part of the on-going Nationwide Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise Clinics for Viable Enterprises (MSME Clinics) initiated by the Presidency in January 2017, and is aimed at providing a platform for convenient, continuous and easy interactions between regulatory agencies and MSMEs doing business in Nigeria,”said Akande.