SON trains over 400 SMEs

The Standards Organization of Nigeria (SON) has stated that it has taught 400 Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) on standards in order for them to compete globally and earn foreign currency.

This, it claimed, will help to alleviate the country’s present FX difficulty, “as more export earnings will help in revitalizing the national economy.”

Mallam Farouk Salim, the organization’s Director General, stated this during the question and answer section at the general sensitization and training for MSMEs, themed “Products Competitiveness: Driving Home-Grown Economy Via Standardization,” noting that competition is what drives the world today.

He observed that significant competition exists in all aspects of life and that if one must compete, one must be ready, prepared, and equipped to compete actively, successfully, and economically.

Salim stated that the country requires borderless local products that Nigerians in the Diaspora, a large number of whom can patronize standard and quality products that are acceptable and competitive anywhere in the world, particularly in Africa, “now that we are preparing for the common market—the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA).”Nigeria, the colossus, should not ‘carry last’ in the AfCFTA.”

Asalim emphasized that for a product to be competitive, it must have been developed or created in conformity with good manufacturing practices.

He praised MSMEs’ efforts to expand their businesses and build the economy, but he challenged them to do more. “The majority of you have been collaborating closely with SON to manufacture high-quality goods. We are pleased with the fact that SMEs and industrialists are generating high-quality goods.

However, we must do more. We are pushing everyone to do more, which is why we are bringing standardization closer to you. SON fosters the growth of enterprises and local industries through training seminars and sensitization programs like these.

He emphasized that substandard products endanger not only lives and property but also the economic development of any country. He stated that standardization leads to industrial and economic growth, global acceptability and competitiveness of locally made products, a.k.a. made in Nigeria products, and overall national development and security, among other benefits. “These are why SON insists on standard adherence for MSMEs across the country.”

Adams Adebayo, Chairman of the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), commended the program in his goodwill message, stating that now is the time for standardization so that products can be universally acknowledged. “We need to get moving. We might build a homegrown economy through standardization.”