The FATE Institute’s State of Entrepreneurship (SoE) 2023 report revealed the adverse impact of Federal Government policies on businesses and entrepreneurs in Nigeria. Entrepreneurs grappled with challenges such as the high cost of doing business due to Naira scarcity, fuel scarcity, subsidy removal, exchange rate reforms, and inadequate power supply.
Despite these challenges, the SoE 2023 report identified Kano, Kaduna, Kogi, Borno, and Bayelsa as the top-performing states for Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs).
The report, released by The FATE Institute, assessed the performance of Nano, Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises (NMSMEs) over the past year. It examined business growth, job creation, technology adoption, and various aspects such as entrepreneurs’ age, gender, and business size.
Adenike Adeyemi, Executive Director of FATE Foundation, highlighted that Kano, Kogi, Kaduna, Borno, and Bayelsa emerged as the top-performing states. Kano, in particular, scored highest in three pillars: business performance, innovation and technology adoption, and an enabling business environment compared to other states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
Adeyemi noted that while 17 states and the FCT displayed relative improvement, 19 states witnessed declines in their rankings according to the SoE report. States at the lower end of the rankings included Yobe, Niger, Taraba, Osun, and Zamfara.
The report covered 10,377 businesses across Nigeria’s 36 states and the FCT. Additionally, The FATE Institute conducted Focus Group Discussions (FGDs) involving entrepreneurs, policymakers, and stakeholders to assess their experiences and perceptions of the business environment and NMSMEs’ performance across sectors and states in Nigeria.
