The Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, Charles Odii, has reiterated the Federal Government’s commitment to creating an enabling environment for businesses to thrive nationwide.
This was disclosed in Sunday statement made available to PUNCH Online, stating that Odii gave the assurance during a working visit to Falcon Chemicals Ltd in Ogun State on Saturday, where he conducted a fact-finding assessment of the 40-year-old manufacturing facility.
Odii said the visit formed part of efforts to deepen engagement with enterprises and support their expansion into higher levels of productivity.
He noted that the government, under President Bola Tinubu, had taken key steps to improve infrastructure and ease of doing business.
“According to Odii, the President Tinubu-led administration has taken critical steps toward providing infrastructure that enables industries to thrive,” the statement read.
He highlighted ongoing infrastructure projects across the country, including road construction and port expansion, which he said would strengthen industrial activity and trade.
“Over the last couple of years, the government has released over 200 billion naira to support growing enterprises across the country,” he said, adding that the funds were being deployed as grants to nano, small, and medium-scale businesses.
However, Odii expressed concern over low participation by potential beneficiaries, attributing it to distrust in government intervention schemes.
“People lack faith and trust in the system. There are funds available for businesses, but people do not come to access them. They don’t even attempt the process,” he said.
He added that even successful beneficiaries rarely share their experiences publicly.
“Those who do benefit from grants are often reluctant to share their experiences with others. Sometimes, we are forced to publish the names of beneficiaries to prove the grants are real,” he said.
Odii explained that registration with SMEDAN remains a key requirement for accessing support.
“As soon as a company within our purview completes registration, it becomes eligible for our services,” he said.
On security concerns affecting businesses, he said the agency had been working to strengthen collaboration between entrepreneurs and security agencies.
“As an agency, we are aware of security challenges and have helped to create a link between business owners and security agents to ensure they can access security services whenever needed,” he said.
In response, the Managing Director of Falcon Chemicals Ltd, Babatunde Adefarati, thanked the SMEDAN DG for the visit, describing it as encouraging for staff and management.
He said the company still had significant untapped capacity. “Our goal is to meet local demand and eventually expand for export. Currently, we import 70% of our raw materials,” he said.
Adefarati added that the company had only explored a fraction of its potential.
“The company has currently explored only 5% of its inbuilt potential,” he said, noting that it was preparing for a new phase expected to significantly impact the paint and chemicals sector.
