Nigerian SMEs struggle in first five years due to poor networking — CIPM president

The President of the Chartered Institute of Personnel Management of Nigeria (CIPM), Mallam Ahmed Ladan Gobir, has attributed the high number of small businesses in Nigeria that fail within their first five years to inadequate networking and collaborations.

Speaking at this year’s edition of the institute’s Corporate Membership Forum on Wednesday, the CIPM boss noted that, while the country boasts of abundant human and natural resources for enterprises to leverage, the lack of collaboration has continued to be the bane of such businesses.

He stressed the need for Human Resource (HR) practitioners in the country to collaborate, in forms of business-to-business, HR to strategy, and private sector to public policy, in order to enhance business growth.

Describing the nation’s business terrain as tough, but full of opportunities, Gobir noted that those opportunities would only be harnessed by collaboration, either through joint venture, supply chain integration or share talent pipeline.

“Sustainability without collaboration is like cooking jollof rice without pepper. It will be tasteless. For businesses, we must work together to cook that jollof rice.

“The Nigerian business terrain is tough, but also full of opportunities. Collaboration is the currency of the future, whether through joint venture, supply chain integration or shared talent pipeline, sustainability depends on how well we partner,” he added.

The event’s Keynote Speaker, Mrs. Lilian Somiari, noted that collaborations have become imperative for individuals and organisations, desirous of remaining relevant.

Somiari, who is the General Manager, HR, Strategy, Organisation and Performance, Total Energies EP Nigeria Ltd, added that sustainability is no more an option for organisations and businesses, but a key imperative for growth and survival.

She, however, argued that for an enterprise to be sustainable, such organisations must be ready to reach out to others of similar and shared vision.

Somiari noted that some countries no longer deal with organisations that contributed little or nothing to their sustainability goal as a country or region.

“Collaboration, therefore, is a business imperative. But, for such collaboration to be strategic, it must be intentional. Besides, you should be able to collaborate internally, to effectively do that externally. It’s a skill that every organisation should master internally before you start to talk about external collaboration,” she stated.

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