As oil revenue dips, economists have
claimed the country is technically at a point of economic recession.
Several indicators such as poor power supply, pipeline vandalism,
lingering fuel scarcity and forex shortages and trade and import
restrictions are quoted to be responsible for the economic malaise.
This year’s LEAP Africa’s 11th CEOs Forum
tried to bridge this gap by focusing on attracting finance for your
business and pointing out strategies and opportunities to do so in the
Nigerian context. The forum provided a confluence platform that brought
together a number of SME’s and connected them via an interactive session
to successful business owners and industry experts so they can dialogue
on issues with respect to seeking funding.
To rebound from the effects of the
country being at a point of economic recession, the government and
private sectors have focused on creating an economy that invests in
empowering SMEs (small and medium scale enterprises) which has a proven
track record from developed and other developing countries to be one of
the most potent economic power house of every successful economy.
Among the distinguished industry experts in attendance at the forum where the likes of Segun Ogunsanya MD Airtel Nigeria; Bismarck Rewane MD/CEO Financial Derivatives Company; Yewande Sadiku ED/ Corp & Investment Banking Stanbic IBTC Bank; Alessandra Lustrati Lead, Access to Finance, DFID; Tayo Oviosu Founder/ CEO PagaTech Limited; Bukky George Founder/ CEO HealthPlus Limited; Raphael Afaedor Co-Founder/ CEO Supermart.ng who were the panelists of this discussion. The discussion panel was moderated by Ngozi Edozien and event chaired by Dayo Benjamins- Laniyi MD, Doxa Digital.
Tayo Oviosu, Bukky George and Raphael
Afaedor identified personal savings, angel investors and loans or grants
from family and friends as viable sources of SMEs funding. They also
talked about the common challenges they had to face at inception and
during the early stage of their businesses.
The Forum progressed with the Investment
Readiness Workshop for entrepreneurs with financial and investment
experts where they delved into investment, financing by sector and
strategies for accessing external funding. The experts invited include Funke Okubadejo; Director Real Estate Actis, Mezuo Nwuneli; MD Sahel Capital, Danladi Verheijen; MD Verod Capital, Dapo Okubadejo; Partner KPMG, Chika Nwobi; Managing Partner, L5LAB, Folabi Esan; Partner, Adlevo Capital, Mobola Onibonoje; Vice President, Alithelia Capital and Collins Onuegbu; Executive Vice Chairman Signal Alliance.
The 11th CEOs Forum in association with Airtel Nigeria, Sterling Bank, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Cocacola, Air France KLM and Landmark Event Centre evidently provided practical insights through the two part event from for emerging and aspiring entrepreneurs.
The Cocktail Mixer in Photos
Issues such as sources of finance for
SMEs, strategies for attracting and managing investors were brought to
the table and trashed out by the experts as they drew from their wealth
of experience.
Lead speaker Segun Ogunsanya started by
identifying the benefits of SME’s in a thriving economy and gave some
relevant tips for upcoming SMEs. He talked about how SMEs must exercise
the power of choice, power of action and the ability to overcome
obstacles as the Nigerian business ecosystem is characterized by
challenges. Bismarck Rewane pointed out some challenges encountered by
the entrepreneur today and concluded by pointing out the importance of
policy installation and implementation to favour SMEs.
Alessandra Lustrati brought to light a
unique DFID scheme called the challenge fund also known as the
‘Innovators Fund’ which is a grant given by the UK government to
developing countries to fund SMEs that focus on solving social
development issues including education, and health care.
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