The Bank of Industry (BoI), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Nigeria Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) have hired the services of rating agency – Dun & Bradstreet Nigeria Limited – to conduct ratings on Nigeria’s Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises ( SMEs) in the country.
A memorandum of Understanding (MOU) authorising the rating firm to conduct due diligence analysis on all existing SMEs in Nigeria, was signed at the weekend in Abuja by BoI, SMEDAN and NEXIM Bank with the rating agency firm, Dun & Bradstreet Limited.
Nigeria has over 37 million SMEs with most of them, adjudged unviable due to challenges which include, lack of access to finance, poor infrastructure which make them susceptible to early death.
Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Hajiya Aisha Abubakar, presided over the signing of MoU in Abuja.
She lamented that SMEs sector is beset with numerous challenges , most especially access to finance.
She was confident that the coming of rating agency is a good development that will spur SMEs growth in Nigeria.