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Concerned by poor quality of products and services, in addition to low compliance to required standards, key professional bodies in the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector are making a strong case
for the professionalisation and certification of business support services in the sector.
This, they said, would enable certified members to professionally insist on quality and standards for goods and services, while raising global competitiveness of the MSME sub-sector in the country.
Franklin Akinlosoye, president, Association of Business Development Service Providers in Nigeria, told BusinessDay that there was a need for certification of MSME professionals to position Nigeria among its global partners and enhance competitiveness.
Akinlosoye said the association had been laying emphasis on human capacity development to ensure professional standards were sustained in the MSME sector, adding that the group just concluded capacity development programme with USAID to ensure members kept track with global trends in the sector.
“The aim of the association is to raise professional consultants, who would own their onus in the society and professional business support services for the MSME sector. We are prodded by the need for professional regulation,” he said.
Reports say ninety percent of businesses in the country and MSMEs. In the United States of America,75 percent of the businesses are MSMEs, while China’s records show 90 percent of businesses in the country fall into this category.
“For us, we target working with the SMEs to have structures and processes to be able to produce quality products and services that would be able to meet globally certified standards,” he further said.
“Just last week, we had a training with UNIDO on quality management system-ISO 9001 and we were certified. Also,we have conformity assessment body. We have formed a body that would focus on quality assurance and control. We are not just looking at companies, but we would also look into their quality products and services. Our members have been trained and certified in quality assurances and control,” the president said.
“We are in touch with UNIDO, World Bank, and the Trade and Industry Ministry. We have discussed with SMEDAN, Bank of Industry,and Abuja Enterprise Agency,” he explained.
“We can only diversify where there is greater emphasis on quality of our products, as some of goods are suffering from exports rejects due largely to low quality level,” he noted.
Judith Hills,a global certification consultant who guided the professionals through the rudiments of certification, told Businessday that the professional body would position Nigeria and advance its competitiveness in the MSME sub-sector.
Harrison Edeh
