Entrepreneurship in Nigeria: Challenges and Opportunities

Fate Foundation is gearing up to host its annual FATE Institute Policy Dialogue Series on Entrepreneurship this Monday at the Ecobank Pan-African Center in Victoria Island, Lagos. The theme for the 9th edition is “The State of Entrepreneurship in Nigeria 2023: Policy Priorities for Nano, Micro, Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (NMSMEs).” The event will bring together policy experts, influencers, enterprise support organizations, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem stakeholders from both the public and private sectors to tackle the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Adenike Adeyemi, the Executive Director of the Foundation, announced this at a news conference.
According to the Foundation, recent reforms by the Federal and state governments have had a negative impact on 90 per cent of businesses and entrepreneurs in the country. These effects include high operating costs, loss of customers, and lower profits due to weak demand for goods and services.
Wilson Erumebor, a Senior Research Fellow at The FATE Institute and Senior Economist at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG), highlighted the challenges faced by entrepreneurs in the past year, including high business costs due to COVID-19, Naira scarcity, fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate reforms, and poor power supply. He noted that these challenges have had a greater negative impact on smaller businesses than larger ones, with entrepreneurs in the Southeast being the most affected.
Adeyemi also revealed the five best-performing states in NMSMEs as Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, Borno, and Bayelsa, while the states with the lowest scores include Yobe, Niger, Taraba, Osun, and Zamfara.
Amaka Nwokolo, the Fate Institute Director, emphasized that the policy dialogue will lead to recommendations that will shape and influence policy reform around entrepreneurship in Nigeria. She urged the government to implement policies and regulations that remove the obstacles hindering businesses across various sectors.