Friday, August 10, 2012

Small business in Nigeria suffering from lack of electricity and corruption

A world investment report conducted by the World Bank on the investment climate in Nigeria, which focused on 26 states in the countrya, revealed that 4.3 per cent of sales in the manufacturing sector was lost as a result of power failure.

Lead Private Sector Development specialist at the World Bank, Mr Michael Wong, who presented the report in Abuja yesterday, called for urgent implementation of policies that would boost economic development in the country and arrest the situation.

The report also x-rayed some of the challenges confronting the growth of small businesses in the country and identified lack of funding, insufficient power supply, and corruption as some of the key factors militating against the economic growth of the country.

But in spite of these challenges the Minister of Trade and Investment, Dr. Olusegun Aganga, said there was hope for the country.

He said that despite the challenges, Nigeria's global ranking on investment flow rose to 47 per cent last year.

Aganga also said that the country's growth rate in the past 10 years had consistently remained at 7 per cent.

However, there was a consensus by experts at the presentation of the report that these figures and percentage had not translated into job creation nor addressed the widespread poverty in the land.

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