Big business or small business? Which one is more important to Nigerian economy?
Ajanlekoko, an electrical engineer, is a Senior Manager in one of the telecommunication companies operating in Nigeria. He earlier made same post on Nairaland.com
Looking at the way the world works, I find it very absurd to hear the whole world chanting the mantra ‘small business is what grows the economy’.
When you really look at the way things work everywhere in the world, nothing could be further from the truth. Sure there is small business but . . . which growth are they providing?
In fact, it is only big corporations that can unlock big markets. Like the US, like China, like even Nigeria. Small businesses can never solve infrastructure problems, can never grow without injection of massive capital. And we are seeing it every day in Naija. Retail, telecoms, banking, energy. Even nature’s resources can never be unlocked without massive capital. Without big money, how will you drill for oil? How will you refine it, and produce all the by-products for human consumption?
Ironically, the US is the biggest perpetrator of this small-business lie. Americans preach that mantra to all and sundry, yet they spent billions bailing out their big corporations when they failed. Which shows they’re not silly.
I think we need to have mega-corporations in Nigeria invest in farming, manufacturing, energy, infrastructure, etc. For me, that is the only way the economy can be stimulated. That’s the only way wealth can trickle down.
Comments anyone?
I think both small and big businesses are important for the economy to grow. But I think government should give incentives for small businesses flourish so that they can become big.
But the problem with Nigerian small business owner is that we celebrate before the celebration, you make a few millions and then get different chieftancy titles, marry more wives, forgetting to plough back your profits into your business so that they can be very big.
The Indians and Lebanese that have multi-billion dollar businesses in Nigeria, started as small business.
Most law firms, stockbroking firms, hospitals, eateries, accounting firms, schools, architectural firms, are small businesses.
What will the nation be without these small businesses.
Both are very vital to the success of Nigeria economy although there is room for improvement.
This is CBN definition of a small or medium business
The Central Bank of Nigeria defines small and medium enterprises in Nigeria according to asset base and number of staff employed. The criteria are an asset base between N5 million and N500 million, and a staff strength between 11 and 300 employees.
Any business with an asset base of less than N5 million can be referred to as a micro business
Unfortunately the business environment is currently hostile to both the big and small companies in Nigeria.