The Director-General of Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda, has said all business startups, micro small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) and would-be entrepreneurs must protect their business by embracing the micro insurance policy.
He said doing so will reduce the numerous risk attached to setting up a business from the scratch due to the environment they operate in.
Giving this charge when he hosted the visiting Managing Director of NICON Insurance Plc, Mr. Bayode Samuel in his office, in Abuja, the SMEDAN director general said the visit by NICON Insurance was coming at the right time when the agency needs them, because MSMEs need micro insurance at this time due to the high risk involved in doing business.
Radda said the management of SMEDAN, following its recently held retreat, discovered lots of issues and challenges relating to MSMEs development, saying the agency has observed that 90% of MSMEs are in the informal sector, lacking the conditions for assessing funds, including the basic knowledge to start and run a good business.
The SMEDAN boss noted it was based on that observation that the agency came out with a blueprint on how to create a conducive platform for MSMEs to thrive.
According to him, SMEDAN is in the process of migrating MSMEs from the informal to formal sector, and this involves a lot of conditions to be met and micro insurance is very vital in this process, Radda explained.
The SMEDAN chief executive disclosed that the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC) have agreed in principle to reduce filing rates for MSMEs registration, but that SMEDAN would act as referrals to would be SMEs to get registered.
“We are poised to impact on the MSME sector by collaborating with reputable insurance company like yours which has branches that spans through all corners of the federation, this would enable us work together and we are confident that our relationship would bring about a revolution in the MSME sector”, Radda said.
