By Akinnodi  Francis

The Nigeria Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), has said the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) were terribly hit by Covid-19 pandemic.
Ondo State Chairman, NASSI, Greatsheyi Akintunde made the revelation while speaking with The Hope In Akure yesterday
He said the SME market represents 90 percent of businesses in Nigeria, and has been deeply impacted by the pandemic.
The Chairman who acknowledged the pressures faced by SMEs in the state and Nigeria as a whole, urged governments to intensify efforts to encourage the growth of small businesses in the country to boost its revenue.
“We recognise the overwhelming pressure that small business owners are currently facing, government should be committed to supporting us through COVID-19 and beyond by bringing our tools at a low cost and rapid time to market.
Meanwhile, Senior Vice President, Product Management, Digital Payments and Labs, Middle Ear and Africa, Gaurang Shah, Mastercard said, “The SME-in-a-Box offering provides SME owners with a quick and simple way to digitize their business and build a platform for sustained future growth’.
He explained that the “SME-in-a-Box” solution is powered by Mastercard’s payment technologies and that of its StartPath fintech partners, including on boarding technology provider Signzy and Mastercard’s network of Tap on Phone partners. It is also powered in Nigeria by leading fintech, Innovectives”.
The solution, according to Akintunde, will aid small and micro merchants across the country in expanding their customer base via digital platforms and enable sustainable revenue growth.
The unique offering enables business owners to access a wide range of financial services quickly and easily through a single intuitive application compatible with all Android mobile devices.
SME-in-a-Box offers a low-cost acceptance service that can run on smart phones and is powered by Mastercard Payment Gateway Services. It also delivers speed and simplicity with remote digital on boarding services from Mastercard’s StartPath partners.
In addition, through its Simplify Commerce offering, Mastercard will enable SMEs with a plug-&-play e-commerce store builder with an instant online checkout.
SMEs can access a virtual card and get access to business tools through Mastercard’s partner ZOHO as well as get access to educational tools.
These capabilities have been packaged as a bundled solution combined with special incentives to drive adoption and support business owners to tackle challenges during COVID-19.
The NASSI chairman said: “Merchants across emerging markets are the backbone of these economies and are eager to do more. However, many of them are limited in accessing supportive financing and business support.
“In combination with the impact created due to the pandemic, the need to support SMEs is more stringent than ever before.
We are leveraging our strength in banking, payment and lending technologies, along with a deep understanding of retail merchant networks to deliver SME-in-Box. It is a welcome development”.