Director general/chief executive officer of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Charles Odii, has disclosed that Nigeria suffered a significant loss of around three million small businesses in recent years, primarily due to environmental factors such as flooding.
Mr. Odii made this revelation during a panel discussion titled: “Sustainable Business Growth in a Challenging Macro Economic Environment,” organised by the European Union Chamber of Commerce in Lagos. According to him, states like Kogi and Benue, severely affected by flooding, were among the hardest hit in the epidemic of small business closures.
He stated, “Upon assumption in office, we looked at the data, and one of the things that we want to do is be driven by data, and we saw that we lost about three million small businesses in Nigeria. They used to be about 42 million. And they had to do with environmental factors, especially flooding in Benue and Kogi state.”
In response to this crisis, Mr. Odii announced that SMEDAN will be launching a department focused on creating a sustainability framework for small businesses.
Specifically, he highlighted the importance of alternative energy sources that leave a smaller carbon footprint on the environment.
The agency has already initiated a program in the Wuse market cluster in Abuja, encouraging traders to transition from petrol generators to solar panels and batteries, considering the benefits in terms of cost and environmental impact.
Additionally, Mr. Odii revealed plans to scale the sustainability initiative, including the construction of green cities for light manufacturing for small businesses through partnerships with state governments. Some states have already provided land for these initiatives.
According to a 2017 study by the National Bureau of Statistics, Nigeria had 41.5 million Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs), employing nearly sixty million people and contributing around 46.31 per cent to GDP.
However, the recent environmental challenges, particularly flooding in 2022, have taken a toll on the MSME sector, with estimated losses ranging from $3.79 billion to $9.12 billion, as reported by the NBS in collaboration with the World Bank.
The devastating impact underscores the urgent need for sustainable solutions to protect and revive small businesses in the country.
