The FATE Institute’s State of Entrepreneurship 2023 report reveals that numerous businesses and entrepreneurs in Nigeria are significantly affected by Federal Government policies.
The report, focusing on Nano, Micro, Small, and Medium-sized Enterprises, assessed their performance in the past year, considering factors such as business growth, job creation, technology adoption, and various dimensions like the age and gender of entrepreneurs.
It noted that over the past year, entrepreneurs have grappled with a range of challenges, including the high cost of doing business attributed to naira scarcity, fuel shortages, fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate reforms, and inadequate power supply.
The Senior Research Fellow at The FATE Institute, and Senior Economist at the Nigerian Economic Summit Group, Wilson Erumebor, emphasised that entrepreneurs and small business owners are navigating difficulties in sustaining their enterprises amid currency crises, fuel subsidy removal, and unfavorable exchange rates.
Erumebor said, “In the 2023 SoE report, entrepreneurs have been faced with the high cost of doing business, occasioned by the naira scarcity, fuel scarcity, fuel subsidy removal, exchange rate reforms, and poor electricity supply, among other factors.
“Across the five pillars of the index, perception of opportunities had the highest score of 0.64, although lower than 0.80 for 2022. This implies that while businesses are still optimistic about the future, their level of optimism is weak when compared with last year.
“Consistent with previous editions, the enabling business environment pillar had the lowest score of 0.36, highlighting the fact that it is increasingly tougher to do business in Nigeria.”
The 2023 SoE report focused on key indicators of entrepreneurship along five pillars – business performance, skills acquisition, innovation and technology adoption, perception of opportunities, and enabling business environment.
Furthermore, the report pointed out persistent and new challenges faced by entrepreneurs; their perception of opportunities, and policy recommendations to improve the state of entrepreneurship in Nigeria.
