SMEDAN pledges to facilitate export of made-in-Nigeria furniture

The Director-General (D-G), Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Mr. Charles Odii, has said that the agency will help facilitate the export of made-in-Nigeria furniture.

Odii made the promise when he visited the Kugbo Furniture Cluster Association in the Federal Capital Territory, Abuja, on Tuesday.

He said that the export of locally-made furniture would help to encourage the export of other made-in-Nigeria products.

The SMEDAN boss said that the agency remained focused on supporting micro, small, and medium enterprises to improve their products to meet minimum international standards.

He also said that the agency was ready to support the association with machines and access to funds to boost their production and perfect their product finishing.

According to him, this will enable them to favourably compete in any international market.

“This will not only generate favourable competition with other products across the globe but stimulate export potential in the furniture industry.

“It will also create more jobs for the Nigerian youth,” Odii said.

He said that the Bola Tinubu-led administration was focused on fast-tracking economic development and creating multiple jobs to address unemployment.

“This can only be achieved if the MSMEs are adequately supported,” he said.

He said the visit was to enable him to obtain first-hand information on the challenges inhibiting the growth of the furniture cluster.

Odii said that SMEDAN had established a Common Facility Centre (CFC) in Idu, equipped with state-of-the-art machines and other relevant equipment.

“The centre is to be deployed for use by the furniture makers, and an arrangement has been made with a logistics company to supply the finished products to any part of the country.

“This will remove the barriers to global competitiveness, and made-in-Nigeria furniture can be exported to West African countries and European markets in due course.

“The agency is partnering with Sterling Bank for the provision of a N5 billion facility.

“The loan will be made available to eligible members of the furniture cluster.

“This support will not be complete without adequate training of the association members in modern production techniques, in addition to an empowerment programme specifically for them,’’ he said.

The SMEDAN D-G donated N.8 million to the association and promised to also donate working tools to a majority of the members.

He urged them to pay a visit to the SMEDAN office to examine the industrial machines at the CFC.

Responding, the Coordinating Chairman of the association, Mr. Sebastian Emeningi, said that they were happy over the D-G’s visit.

Emeningi enumerated the challenges facing the association, ranging from low patronage by government agencies to insufficient funding opportunities to procure modern machines and the lack of opportunity for training and re-training of members.

He said that they were under serious threat of being run out of business by foreign furniture companies, which had the backing of their home government.

Supreme News reports that the SMEDAN D-G was accompanied to the hub by the Head of Corporate Affairs of the agency, Mr. Moshood Lawal.