CHALLENGES OF SMALL-SCALE ENTERPRISES IN ENUGU STATE, NIGERIA: A HISTORICAL STUDY OF NEW JERUSALEM BAKERIES

Abstract

Industrial economies of the world are known to evolve economic policies that are small-scale enterprise-friendly. The importance of small-scale enterprises to sustainable economic development could be premised on such factors as bringing employment to the grassroots, making effective use of unskilled and semi-skilled labour, ensuring local content in production among others. From the foregoing, the benefits of the small-scale enterprises in a developing economy become obvious. However, most research in development studies tend to focus more on the economic activities of Large-Scale Enterprises (LSEs) and Multi-national Corporations (MNCs). Identifying the vacuum in the study of small-scale enterprises in south-eastern Nigeria, this study adopts the eclectic method of analysis and the historical method of documentation to narrate the struggles of New Jerusalem Bakeries, Enugu. The general challenges faced by small-scale enterprise in Enugu State could be gleaned through the business history of New Jerusalem Bakeries. The study submits that the survival and productivity of small-scale enterprises in Enugu State and elsewhere in Nigeria would demand effective government intervention.