Gov. AbdulRahman AbdulRazaq of Kwara has assented to the Bureau of Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises Bill, officially creating an agency to drive investments and development in the microeconomic sub-sector in the state.
With 36 sections and five parts, the bureau seeks to support MSMEs and improve the business environment in Kwara.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the bureau would initiate and articulate ideas for MSME policy thrust in the state, serve as a vanguard and focal point for rural industrialization, poverty alleviation and eradication, technology acquisition and adaptation, job creation, and sustainable livelihood, according to the law.
“It will promote and facilitate development programmes, instruments, and support services to accelerate development, mobilization, networking, and linkage of MSMEs.
“It will mobilize internal and external resources, including technical assistance for MSME institutions, trade associations, and non-governmental organizations, oversee, coordinate and monitor developments in the MSME subsector, design, package, and promote cottage, MSMS industrial projects,” some details of the bill revealed.”
The Bureau would also serve as a database as it is empowered to, among other things, demand for and obtain relevant information, data, and reports on activities relating to the promotion and development of micro, small, and medium scale enterprises from banks, research and development institutions and other support organizations.
It will also provide industrial extension services to micro, small, and medium scale enterprises, fabricators of machinery, and beneficiaries of micro-credit loans.
The law also establishes a governing board for the bureau, with its leadership and members to be drawn from across various sectors and senatorial districts of the state.
The Bill establishing the Bureau was passed on March 9, 2022, by the Kwara House of Assembly.
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