SMEs and GDP Contribution: an Opportunity for Nigeria's Economic Growth

Abstract

The role and contribution of SMEs to economies worldwide cannot be down played by any serious country considering their proven potentials in Increasing GDPs. Records show that SMEs account for the highest number of businesses worldwide and are essential contributors to employment generation and global economic development.  This paper is a qualitative research work which focused on a detailed understanding of the performance of some Asia's SMEs leading economies. Contemporary literatures and empirical opinions of previous researchers were reviewed in the process of gauging the efforts of government and other stakeholders like the Central Bank of Nigeria in addressing the plight SMEs. The authors further reviewed the position of some selected Asian SMEs like Malaysia, China, India, Hong Kong, Bangladesh and Singapore. The selected Asian countries were chosen based on each country's similarity to Nigeria in terms Population, Unemployment rate, Financial Challenges and the absence of Infrastructure in some cases. Furthermore, the analysis revealed how lack of access to credit facilities on the side of SMEs and inadequate means of borrower identification on the side of the financial institution stunt the growth of potentially existing SMEs as well as the dream of prospective SMEs in Nigeria.