Small and medium enterprises: Strategies for promotion and challenges of their development in Nigeria

Nigeria is a less-developed economy which is struggling to get industrialized. As a public-led economy in which foreign direct investment is an unreliable source of economic growth, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) assume critical role of sustaining the momentum of the country´s quest for economic development. In apt recognition of this, the government overtime put in place some institutional arrangements to promote the development of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in the country. However, empirical evidence portrays that the effect of these efforts of the government has been minimally felt in the promotion and development of small and medium enterprises in the country due to challenges such as poor coordination, sharp practices, inadequate funding, and poor economic infrastructure. Hence, The suggestive framework for improvement, in this write-up, is collaboration between the government and the commercial banks with the former providing the critical economic infrastructure while the latter provide for the SMEs, the working capital and leasing-financing of the necessary equipment and machineries, all guaranteed by the apex bank of the country.