From 1960 to the present, Nigeria has developed many plans towards her industrial revolution attainment. Some of the plans identified the critical needs of each sector of the economy especially manufacturing and the growing of the over 32 million small businesses.
The Nigeria Industrial Revolution Plan was launched by the former administration of President Goodluck Jonathan in 2014 with the underlying philosophy of building the country’s competitive advantage, increasing the scope of manufacturing, and accelerating expansion of the sector.
Like the previous plans that failed as result of poor implementation, NIRP achieved little or nothing of its fundamental objectives before the current administration of President Muhammadu Buhari took over power from former President Goodluck Jonathan in 2015. From the Industrial Development Centres to Industrial Clusters, Nigerian government is still battling varied problems on her path to modern industrial revolution. Challenges remain of lack of physical infrastructure, human and financial resources at the centres and clusters which have been preventing entrepreneurs from accessing training, consultancy, and feasibility plan development among others.
To experts, the main problem with the country’s economy has been the government’s failure to diversify. Accepting the challenge, in 2017, the current administration developed an economic recovery and growth plan with the underlying philosophy of taking the country out of her worst economic recession in the last 25 years.
Our analysts expect such plan to prioritise the growth of the small businesses mostly in the manufacturing sector by having strategic objectives and competent personnel who will make their attainment realisable towards the benefit of every entrepreneur.
We found out economic diversification and growth component of the plan has 86 coherent actions for SMEs growth. Our analysis reveals that government had 28 actions for infrastructural development and 23 actions for financial capacity building of the entrepreneurs. This indicates that government has realised that lack of physical infrastructure and access to credit by small businesses are impeding the economy growth.
We equally discovered that government has intention of growing small businesses through advisory or programme support. Thirty actions were found for the intent. Human resources received less coherent actions. Our analysts only found 5 activities towards improved labour force especially her personnel that will execute most of the actions stated in other identified areas –infrastructure, financial, human and advisory services.
Further analysis, when the challenges facing SMEs growth are modelled with the coherent actions, indicates that infrastructure, financial and human resources positively related with challenges facing Industrial Development Centres across the country with less than 1%. This establishes that the actions are not sufficient enough to solve the challenges.
Our analysts further understand that coherent actions under the advisory or programme support will impact SMEs differently when industrial development centers’ services are considered. Advisory or programme coherent actions negatively related with information, training and consultancy services of the centres. Actions are grossly inadequate to cater for the process that would lead to delivery of sustainable information, training and consultancy services, our analysis suggests. We only found the actions’ movement in a positive direction with the feasibility plan development services being offered currently the centres, signifying the possibility of having the service deliver to the entrepreneurs when the specific actions associated with it are followed by the centres. However, advisory or programme coherent actions can only increase IDCs impacts on small businesses by 38.7%.
On the benefits that will accrue to entrepreneurs, advisory or programme coherent actions related to information services, training services, consultancy services and feasibility plan development of IDCs will serve few needs of many and broad needs of few. Financial resources coherent actions will serve few needs of many and broad needs of few seeking information, training, consultancy services and feasibility plan development. Human resources coherent actions will serve few needs of many. Infrastructure coherent actions will serve broad needs of few and few needs of many.
Enterprations’ Note: The piece is from the preliminary findings of our Industrial Development Centres and Clusters Situation Analysis Project.
https://www.enterprations.com/index.php/2018/08/03/insight-why-small-businesses-wont-benefit-most-from-nigerias-economic-diversification-policy/

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