AU Forum: Shettima demands strong MSME ecosystem

The vice president, Kashim Shettima, has said Africa’s future economic success depends on its ability to integrate the informal sector into the formal intra-African trade framework, particularly through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA). This is as the vice president also demanded a strong Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Ecosystem, saying it is key […]

The vice president, Kashim Shettima, has said Africa’s future economic success depends on its ability to integrate the informal sector into the formal intra-African trade framework, particularly through the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

This is as the vice president also demanded a strong Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Ecosystem, saying it is key for Africa’s prosperity.

Shettima, who stated this on Monday when he declared open the 4th African Union Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) Forum in Abuja, warned that if Africa fails to harness the potential in the informal sector for small businesses to grow, the continent would “keep going round the same cycle of despair.”

He said the promise of a better future for Africa does not depend on the skyscrapers being constructed in capitals of nations or the transactions in stock exchanges but lies in the reality that the “potential of the informal sector, which accounts for nearly 90 per cent” of the continent’s workforce, must be harnessed.

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He also said this is the reason why small businesses have remained at the heart of policy formulation in Nigeria.

“There can be no African prosperity without a strong MSME ecosystem. This forum is a continental call to action. We owe it to ourselves, to our children, and to generations unborn, to integrate our informal economy into the framework of formal intra-African trade.

“I am confident that through our collaborative efforts, this forum will mark a turning point. We hope to see our shared aspirations translated into concrete actions that empower our MSMEs and propel Africa towards a brighter, more sustainable future,” Shettima told delegates and other participants at the forum.

Welcoming the delegates and participants to the forum, the vice president conveyed President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s message of the nation’s readiness to join other countries on the continent in learning from one another, as well as the determination to agree on the direction taken to effectively compete with the rest of the world.

Earlier, the Deputy Chief of Staff to the President/Chairman of the Host Country Committee, Senator Ibrahim Hassan Hadejia, reiterated Nigeria’s commitment to a future where MSMEs are empowered to thrive.

In setting the tone for discussions at the forum, the Special Adviser to the President on Job Creation and MSME, Mr Temitola Adekunle-Johnson, underscored the need for stakeholders across the continent to collaborate and capitalise on the potential of Africa’s youthful and energetic population to transform the region’s economic landscape.