The Minister of Communication, Abdur-Raheem Adebayo Shittu has re-instated the commitment of the Federal Government to the growth and development of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria.
Shittu stated this at the SME Conference and Awards held today at the Ace Olivia Hall, Lagos City Mall, Onikan, Lagos.
The Minister said that concerted and painstaking efforts are being made to create an enabling environment for businesses to thrive in the country and the government is also emboldening young Nigerians to start something for themselves rather than waiting for white collar jobs.
“Through TradeMoni, we have empowered and supported youths and women across the country by offering them money to enable them to start small businesses. Additionally, the government has slashed the cost of registering companies from 10,000 to 5,000. This is simply to ensure that business registration is less cumbersome. This will encourage would-be entrepreneurs and businesses to make more foray into the business world”, He added.
Shittu who was the keynote speaker at the conference gave credit to the Vice President, Prof. Yemi Osinbajo who has been at the forefront of promoting technology and social entrepreneurship. The Vice President according to Shittu is very passionate about exploiting and exploring technology to solve and tackle social problems in the country.
The convener of the SME Conference and Awards, Mr. Emmanuel Ezima, CEO of Emvirtue said that the conference which is in its third year is aimed at discussing the way forward for Nigerian small businesses which is the fulcrum and foundation of any economy.
In line with the theme of the conference, Technology, Governance, and Funding; Ezima said that technology has disrupted the business landscape and founders must understand this.
“Today thousands around the world are using technology to find solutions to social problems thereby creating the much-needed employment. Africa and Nigeria cannot be an exception. This is why we’ve put together this conference to connect business owners and expose them to the latest tech in the business world. And we are not doing this alone, we are also working with the government on this”, he added.
Ezima rounded up his address announcing that an SME programme will be on air soon and more SME programmes will be organised. Hence, “We are not resting on our mission and vision to ensure the growth of SMEs in Nigeria.”
Here are some pix from the event:
