At least, one hundred Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, (MSMEs) are expected to participate in the 2022 MSMEs fair to be held in Ipodo, Ikeja Lagos State next Monday, September 26, 2022.
The theme of the fair – “Competing for Market” is being organized by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and is scheduled to run for five days, being second in a series.
This year’s MSMEs exhibition at Ipodo, dubbed one of the fastest-growing MSME fairs in Lagos, would give exhibitors the chance to present their goods and take advantage of business counseling services from SMEDAN on how to upgrade their firms.
In a statement announcing the start of the MSMEs fair in Ipodo, Olawale Fasanya, Director-General of the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN, noted that MSME fairs are a genuine platform for promoting made-in-Nigeria goods.
He claimed that events like the MSMEs expo in Ipodo were created to give MSMEs the chance to display products that were made in Nigeria. He added that the fair provides MSMEs with a practical setting where they can network with key players in the MSME ecosystem and connect with market prospects.
Fasanya said that due of the success of the first edition, the agency has come to support the Ipodo fair. And we will keep assisting MSMEs since they are the foundation of any flourishing economy.
The agency, according to the director-general, recently organized a successful opportunity fair in Benin City in partnership with the Edo State government, and we will also be organizing another opportunity fair in Jos the following week. All of these are intended to support our MSMEs and promote made-in-Nigeria goods.
Mr. Fasanya added that the organization would keep advancing sustainable programs to increase the ability of MSMEs in Nigeria. Organizing trade shows and expos, as well as raising consumer awareness, he claimed, will increase the purchase of items created in Nigeria.
“The masses of the people are ignorant of the fact that quality and durable products are also produced by MSMEs in Nigeria,” he said.
Fasanya continued by saying that events like the MSMEs fair Ipodo would demonstrate the quality items that Nigerian MSMEs are capable of producing, which would push people to reconsider and buy more locally produced goods. The Director-General equally stated that the agency was “planning to host an opportunity fair for the people with disability in the near future,” he stated.
