How to grow small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) and encourage the entrepreneurship was the focus of the discussion at this year’s business forum by Fate Foundation in Lagos.
The event had as theme: The business outlook for 2016.
Keynote speaker, Chief Executive Officer, Economic Associates, Dr. Ayo Teriba, said there were some hurdles SMEs’ owners must overcome to move up the economic ladder and access to capital.
For him, the landscape is still complicated for SMEs looking for investments and access capital. Teriba noted, however, that the uncertainties in the economy have disappeared with the unveiling of the Federal Government’s policy direction as well as the presentation of the 2016 Appropriation Bill.
According to the eminent economist, this year is different from last year because the uncertainty that compounded the effects of negative transaction shocks last year has reduced significantly. As a result, he predicted that Nigeria’s growth outlook in the year would be better, compared with the previous year.
He pointed out that uncertainty makes businesses unable to grow, saying that a lot of business owners had been postponing major decisions.
“For example, before the election, most businesses decided to wait till after the elections.The election brought in a new government and businesses decided to wait for the inauguration. When inauguration came, they also decided to wait for the government to announce its policy direction.
“So, while all these were happening, we waited for months and that impacted on growth. The government has announced its policy direction and the budget, and you know that you can go ahead with your plans as long as it does not conflict with government’s policy. The uncertainty has cleared and you can identify risks and make plans for dealing with them. The uncertainty has cleared and 2016 is better for that reason,” he said.
Teriba urged Nigerians and policy makers to look inward to grow the economy, saying that Nigeria is so uniquely placed and there are lots of slacks in the domestic economy that could be fixed to grow the economy like India.
Stressing the importance of foreign direct investments (FDIs) to the economy, Teriba said Nigeria ‘s record on FDIs is poor. According to him, countries that get FDIs and diaspora remittances go the extra miles to attract foreign inflows.
Executive Director, Fate Foundation, Mrs Adenike Adeyemi, said SMEs have the potential to restore growth in the country.
Mrs Adeyemi said the Foundation aims to enhance SMEs by transforming them, and helping them overcome some of their key challenges.
She urged SMEs to look forward to enhanced support in productivity, innovation and capability upgrading.
She said the foundation has identified the need to create more services to address the challenges encountered by smaller local businesses.
She said the organisation has already planned some SME-related events for the year.
She announced also that the foundation was working with some investors to offer new financing methods for small business owners.
Mrs Adeyemi said business angels, are individuals would invest in a business.
The aim is to provide alumni businesses with finance to create a stronger private sector that will foster the development of smaller companies.
Senior Manager,Energy Resources Accenture Nigeria,Mr Michael Faniran, said the economic outlook was still uncertain, and as such there was a genuine reluctance to engage in development of the business, let alone consider opening new premises or offering new products and services.
He stressed the need for measures to enhance support for SMEs to restructure and achieve quality growth.
He noted that SMEs are the backbone of the economy, and that their growth is essential for enhancing competitiveness and strengthening the nation’s attractiveness as a place for investment and production.
He said SMEs should strive towards achieving a balanced and sustainable equity system by stimulating investments. This includes seeking improved equity investments with new partners to help them to leverage business opportunities.
At the end, those who attended agreed to learn from those who hold the keys to serious investments in SMEs and the economy.
SOURCE:THENATION
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