Small Scale Entreprise in Nigeria Issues and Prospects

1.Introduction Small Scale Enterprises (SSEs) have played and continue to play significant roles in the growth, development and industrialisation of many economies the world over. In Nigeria, the SSEs have performed below expectation due to a combination of problems. This situation has been of great concern to the government, citizenry, practitioners, operators and the organised private sector groups. Small businesses are generally regarded as the driving force of economic growth, job creation, and poverty reduction in developing countries. They have been the means through which accelerated economic growth and rapid industrialization have been achieved (Harris and Gibson, 2006; Sauser, 2005; Arinaitwe, 2002; Kiggundu, 2002; Monk,†¦show more content†¦While the absolute figures involved in the definition of these enterprises may differ, there are some underlying similarities in the concept used in the definitions. The following are common measures of defining SSE. †¢ Number of people employed: The number of people varies from country to country. In Uganda the figure is put to between 5-50. In India, the figure is that between 30-100. In the United States, small enterprises are those which employ less than 500 people. In Kenya business with 10 or fewer workers are called micro enterprises. †¢ Capital employed: The number of people employed may not be a good indicator especially if the industry is labour intensive. This is true in countries like India where there is a labour intensive approach to industrialisation as a policy. In some cases trading organisations can transact huge sums of business worth transactions and yet they employ a few people. Consequently, capital employed is at times used as a measure of defining small business. In Uganda there is no proper agreement as to the capital employed though a figure ranging between US$5,000 to US$50,000 is a reasonable estimate. The Uganda Investment Authority has put this figure to now Shs.50 million (about US$50,000). The Ministry of Industry however had indicated a figure of an investment not exceeding US$300,000. This figure