 The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment Ambassador Maryam Katagum has said franchising allows not only expansion but an empowerment tool which can benefit start-up companies and develop Niger small and medium enterprises to bring about growth and sustainable development in the economy. Katagum gave the submission in her keynote address during the launch of franchising as an investment alternative for Lagos MSME's pilot programme held in Lagos. Details in this report. The launch of the pilot scheme of the Lagos Franchise Framework Development Initiative brought together stakeholders from across the business sector. The objective of the programme seeks to foster networking and partnership opportunities between SMEs and large firms in creating and enabling local content environments. The special advisor to Governor Sao Wung Lu on SDGs and investment, Sholakbe Hamod, highlights more on the programme. The franchising industry is a very quiet achiever. We may not see as many headlines as you see with some of the more exciting sectors, for example technology, but they make an amazing contribution to the global economy. Most of the biggest businesses in the world are franchises from hospitality to food to various other sectors and this sector is estimated to grow at about 30% per year globally. According to Hamod, the pilot scheme which is designed to expose 300 MSMEs to the franchise business system will support these Lagos-based franchises to develop their unique franchise model and help them get investment ready. We're looking to catalyze today 300 businesses that will, that have the potential for franchising and I think it's been very exciting for us that we're not just thinking this in our heads. When we started this application process, we were targeting having at least 300 businesses in the room and we've had applications now from more than 700 businesses for this programme. David Russell is the commercial attache US consulate. He stresses the need for SMEs to configure their thinking to see values as a leading rationale that consumer utilizes to make choices. Anyone that has lived and worked in Nigeria knows that is at this level that the principles of hard work and achievement through development are best demonstrated in the country. As Nigeria grows to be a further leader on the continent and across the world, it is critical that we advance these frameworks necessary to capture the energy and entrepreneurialism of this segment. The minister of industry, trade and investments, Miriam Katagum, in her address noted that the current dynamics of the Nigerian MSME sector makes a country suitable to prove the concept of franchise business model. There are serious challenges hampering the growth of franchising as a sustainable business model for MSMs in Nigeria, which ranges from the lack of existing franchise specific law and regulatory framework, franchising, gaining access to funding, awareness, capacity building to inefficient enabling environments. She reiterated the commitment of the federal ministry of industry, trade and investment to continually engage critical stakeholders to ensure policies are rightly initiated, developed and implemented for the overall economic well-being of the country. Hello, hope you enjoyed the news. Please do subscribe to our YouTube channel and don't forget to hit the notification button so you get notified about fresh news updates.