Need to enhance businesses to lift citizens from poverty

The World Bank’s Economic Report (July 2014)
states that Nigeria is one of the top five
countries that has the largest number of poor
people in the world. The top five countries, in
terms of numbers of poor, are India (with 33
percent of the world’s poor), China (13 percent),
Nigeria (7 percent), Bangladesh (6 percent) and
the Democratic Republic of Congo (5 percent),
which together are home to nearly 760 million of
the world’s poorThe number of poor Nigerians is put at 58 million
or 33.1 per cent of the population. This
represents an improvement from the previous
study conducted in 2009/2010 which put the
poverty level at 61% of Nigeria’s population.
According to the Bank of Industry, BOI, Micro,
Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, MSMEs,
constitute the essential ingredients to lubricate
and develop the Nigerian economy to lift citizens
out of poverty.
Divisional Head, Large Enterprises of BOI, Mr.
Joseph Babatunde said that there is need to
enhance the business activities of MSMEs.
According to Babatunde, there should be
provision of financial and tax incentives to
encourage SMEs to join the formal sector.
Governments need to provide tax incentives for
SMEs and subsidies similar to those available to
large corporations as well as give more priority
to intervention funds for start-ups/ or SMEs, he
said.

Babatunde added that governments should
promote public-private partnerships to attract
venture capital funds and higher levels of
investment, and put in place measures to create
investor-friendly environmentsThe number of poor Nigerians is put at 58 million
or 33.1 per cent of the population. This
represents an improvement from the previous
study conducted in 2009/2010 which put the
poverty level at 61% of Nigeria’s population.
According to the Bank of Industry, BOI, Micro,
Small and Medium Scale Enterprises, MSMEs,
constitute the essential ingredients to lubricate
and develop the Nigerian economy to lift citizens
out of poverty.
Divisional Head, Large Enterprises of BOI, Mr.
Joseph Babatunde said that there is need to
enhance the business activities of MSMEs.
According to Babatunde, there should be
provision of financial and tax incentives to
encourage SMEs to join the formal sector.
Governments need to provide tax incentives for
SMEs and subsidies similar to those available to
large corporations as well as give more priority
to intervention funds for start-ups/ or SMEs,..