7.8 million SMEs die in two years — ASBON

<p>No fewer than 7.8 million small businesses under the Association of Small Business Owners of Nigeria have died within the last two years, according to information exclusively obtained by The PUNCH.</p>, <p>The President, ASBON, Femi Egbesola, disclosed this to The PUNCH during an interview.</p>, <p>He said, “Our statistics remain the same, and it is even more profound. I can categorically tell you now that 20 per cent of businesses have gone under within the past two and a half years, from January 2021 till date.</p>, <p>“Today, according to our survey, we have about 39 million existing businesses that are captured by data. 20 per cent of that is gone. If you look at 20 per cent of that is 7.8 million businesses that have gone under.”</p>, <p>Egbesola, who also spoke on the palliatives announced by President Bola Tinubu for the benefit of Small and Medium Enterprises, commended the move, but warned that the government should ensure that it liaised with the leadership of relevant associations to ensure that the palliatives were not diverted by corrupt politicians.</p>, <p>He said, “We have to know the terms and conditions of accessing the palliatives. In times past, we have had wonderful interventions like this, but most times, it ends in the hands of people who are not business owners.</p>, <p>“One thing is to have a policy; another thing is to have effective monitoring and implementation of that policy. If the government chooses to give palliatives to SMEs, that is fine. The next thing is to ascertain that it is actually the business owners that access this fund.</p>, <p>“One way that business owners can access this fund is by making the conditions affordable and accessible to that sector. 96 per cent of those in businesses are in the nano and micro sector, and these are people who are informal and mostly illiterates. So, if you come up with a policy like this, if the process is not done well, you may seclude this sector from benefitting from it.”</p>, <p>Egbesola urged the government to move swiftly to addre