The 2022 Entrepreneurship Empowerment Summit has called for improved funding and support for Nigeria’s Small and Medium Scale entrepreneurs.
This submission was made on Thursday, September 29, by the Chairman, Industrial Policy Council of the Institute of Professional Industrialists and Management Development, Mr Felix Achibiri.
The summit was in collaboration with the Raw Material Research Development Council and the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Scale Enterprise.
The two-day summit focused on the theme; “Empowering the Micro, Small and Medium Entrepreneurs through a Dedicated Cooperative Society.”
While speaking at the summit, Mr Achibiri, who also doubles as the summit’s chairman, said there is a need to find sustainable means to engage young Nigerians bearing in mind the high spade of unemployment.
He said: “Today, Nigeria’s unemployment rate stands at about 33.3% while the population is growing at about 2.6% per year. With these realities on ground, we must continue to find sustainable means to unlock the potentials of our people and our economy.
“Unlocking the potentials of the MSME sector in Nigeria is a prerequisite to creating more jobs and a robust non-oil sector.”
Achibiri stated that the summit seeks to bridge these gaps and provide veritable solutions to impede the growing unemployment rate in the country.
He, however, called relevant stakeholders to embrace partnership to correct the wrongs of the continued rate of unemployment and the complacency that comes with it.
Achibiri said: “Recognising the opportunities in the SME sector and the inherent ability of our young people, DFC Holdings and our Associate companies are focused on maximising the multiplicity of opportunities in various sectors of the economy. Today, our investments at DFC Holdings flow mostly in the direction of Financial Inclusion, Technology and Human Capital development.
“At DTH Africa, one of our subsidiaries, we are incubating Africa’s disruptive technologies, and to the last count, the company has about 12 companies under its incubation programme. In addition, our Fintech Inclusion Centre is leveraging technology to bring financial inclusion to people at the bottom of the economic pyramid.
“At Bizpotta, we are bridging the skill gap in Nigeria and Africa while providing resources and tools for effective business development and management.
“We have a number of subsidiaries creating opportunities in various sectors with the aim of closing the gaps we have identified in these sectors.”
The summit had the presence of the Managing Director/CEP Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA), Shehu Abdulkabir, the Special guest of honour, and Emmanuel Atama as the keynote speaker.
Other dignitaries included Prof H.D Ibrahim, Director General/CEO of Raw Material Research Development Council, and Pascal Ogechi Harry, chairman local organising committee.
The event featured the induction of new members, recertification of members, the inauguration of IPC, Awards and a host of others.
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