On Tuesday, over a hundred Small and Medium Business (SMB) owners in Nigeria were present at the National Conference of SMB and Business Leaders where they were taught sustainable ways to grow their enterprises in Nigeria. Successful business leaders and heads of government were also in attendance.
The maiden event held at the Landmark Centre in Victoria Island, Lagos, and was themed ‘Global trade: Key to sustainable business and national socio-economic development’. While delivering her lecture, the representative of the acting Managing Director of the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM), Folasade Aluko said SMBs represent about 80 percent of the total businesses in Nigeria, hence the need for business owners in this category to wake up and differentiate their businesses from the crowd in order to take up their role in the country’s economic development.
Aluko, who is the Deputy Manager of the Lagos area office of NEXIM, reiterated that small and medium business owners need to take advantage of available funds to finance their businesses. “The federal government has released funding to the Central Bank of Nigeria, and NEXIM has been appointed as the fund Manager.” According to her, N500 billion and N50 billion have been made available by the government for Non-Oil Export Stimulation Facility (ESF) and the export Rediscounting and Refinancing Facility (RRF) respectively. She added that the interest rates for this funding are between 7.5 to 9 percent.
The President of the Guardians of The Nation International (GOTNI), Linus Okorie was also one of the speakers at the event. He highlighted critical roles of leadership and resilience to the reinvention and revitalization of businesses. Okorie said integrity and a strong learning system that helps workers hunger for knowledge are very important to the success of any business. “The people of Africa have not taken the culture of developing their capital seriously,” Okorie added.
The Senior Special Adviser to the President on Economic Matters, Adeyemi Dipeolu was also represented at the event by Tola Adekule Johnson (SSA to the Vice President on Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs). Dipeolu said “the President has set up a committee on ease of doing business in Nigeria” last week. He said this came as a result of the interest of the present government to see small businesses thrive in the country.
Other speakers present at the event include George Ogbonnaya, the Head of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), First City Monument Bank (FCMB); Azuka Ikejiofor, the Assistant Director (Marketing) of the Nigerian Export Promotion Council.
The convener of the conference, Business Leaders Forum is a membership organisation which works towards bridging resource gap via strategic partnerships with stakeholders and government to provide strong and realistic action plan for business growth in Nigeria.
Considering that the largest percentage of Nigerian businesses are SMEs, events like this are crucial to helping innovators and budding entrepreneurs fashion their businesses in sustainable ways. Many Nigerians have resorted to this sector due to the limited job available in both government and private establishments. Unfortunately, several start-up businesses in Nigeria often collapse due to the lack of knowledge on how to access required and available funds that will help them grow. Conferences and training programs that teach business sustainability and economic development are strategic drivers that could save crumbling businesses.
