Nature and Relevance of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in the Economic Development of Nigeria

This study examined the nature and relevance of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) in the development process. It posits that there is no universally accepted definition of small and medium scale enterprises, rather definitions varies from one country to another depending on the level of development, even overtime among institutions or industries. Development strategies in the past, in most developing economies had favoured large-scale industries which had not yielded the much desired net returns to their economies hence the need for a change to incorporate small and medium scale organisations. The contributions of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) to the development process are such that any country can only ignore to its own wishes. Emphasis must therefore be turned not only on large-scale enterprises but also on SMEs. If developing countries such as Nigeria are aiming at rapidly achieving self-sustaining growth and by extension self-reliant in terms of development.