PROFILE OF THE TECHNICAL SUPPORT TO SMALL SCALE ENTERPRISES BY COMMERCIAL BANKS IN NIGERIA
CHAPTER ONE
 INTRODUCTION
1.1Â Â Â Â Â Background to the Study
Industrial and economic development is fostered not by few large scale industries but by numerous small-scale industries which have the capacity to provide employment and aid economic growth. Small-scale industries have been fully recognized by governments and development experts as the main engine of economic growth and a major factor in promoting private sector development and partnership.
The development of small-scale industries is therefore an essential element in the growth strategy of most economies and holds particular significance forNigeria. Small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) not only contribute significantly to improve living standards, they also bring about substantial local capital formation and achieve high level of productivity and capacity utilization.
From a planning stand point, SMEs are increasingly recognized as the principal means for achieving equitable and sustainable industrial diversification and dispersal; and in most countries SMEs account for well over half of the total share in terms of employment. A major gap inNigeria’s industrial development process in the past years has been the absence of a strong and virile small and medium scale enterprise.
The little progress recorded from the courageous efforts of the first generation of indigenous industrialists were almost completely wiped out by massive dislocation and traumatic devaluation which took place under the Structural Adjustment Programme (SAP). The policies of SAP are rooted in the neo-classical theory of perfect competitive markets whose assumptions do not adequately inflect constraints on SMEs in developing countries.
With the dismantling of trade and other barriers, the world has been transformed into a global village. Consequently, SMEs in developing countries are struggling to survive under intense competitive environment for the development of SMEs so that they could adequately play the role expected of them in economic transformation such role includes; mobilization of domestic savings for investment, appreciable contribution to gross domestic product, increase harnessing of local raw materials, employment generation, significant contribution to poverty reduction efforts through sustainable livelihood and enhancement of personal income, technological development and export diversification. This will be made possible through a responsive industrial policy and government overall economic development strategies that will ensure the collaboration of all development partners and the effective coordination and utilization of economic resources.
