National Enterprise Policy Dimensions and Sustainability of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs)

This paper investigates the effectiveness of national enterprise policy on the sustainability of micro, small and medium enterprises in Nigeria. Previous studies focus on economic policies and managerial factors that stimulate the growth of small and Medium Enterprises. There is a departure in this study by evaluating the effectiveness of the current national enterprise policy on micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) for sustainability of MSMEs in Nigeria. A cross sectional survey design was employed while the method of data collection was structured questionnaire. The data were collected from a sample of 506 respondents and were analyzed using descriptive and inferential statistics. The study finds that dimensions of national enterprise policy had significant effect on the sustainability of MSMEs. We conclude that the policy dimensions of legal-regulatory, human resources development, finance, infrastructure, marketing, technology, research and development contributed to the sustainability of MSMEs in Nigeria. We recommend that Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) should reinforce sustainability of MSMEs through capacity building programs for the workforce and owners in Nigeria. We further recommend that the Federal and State Ministries of Works should provide MSME-based infrastructure to reduce the cost of operations and thereby increase profitability levels to sustain MSMEs.