Dele Oye: New Industrial Policy Must Rescue Struggling SMEs
Says sector needs action, not more policies to drive industrial growth; document alone won’t save businesses
•Urges CBN to impose interest rate caps on digital lending platforms, claims digital lenders charging over 300% annual interest, trapping borrowers in debt
James Emejo in Abuja
Chairman, Alliance for Economic Research and Ethics (AERE), Hon. Dele Oye, has warned that Nigeria’s ambitious Industrial Policy (NIP2025) may fail to achieve its desired objectives unless government shifts its focus from policy formulation to disciplined implementation.
In a statement yesterday, Oye commended the federal government’s renewed industrialisation drive, but said what Nigerian businesses urgently required was not another comprehensive policy document, but faithful execution of existing commitments capable of addressing the daily realities confronting millions of small businesses.
The industrial policy framework, the brainchild of Minister of State for Industry, Senator John Owan Enoh, was launched by President Bola Tinubu in February.