‘SMEs Key To Driving Regional, Global Trade’

NEWS EXTRA

‘SMEs Key To Driving Regional, Global Trade’

FOR Nigeria and other African nations to boost their low global trade which currently is about three per cent, they need to pay serious attention to entrepreneurship growth and development.

  The Managing Director, Tony Elumelu Foundation, Wieber Boer has said, adding that he reason the continent’s global trade was still low was due to the fact that most of what Africa sold to the global market was non value added raw materials.

  Boer during a visit to celebrate its advisory board members across the world stressed the urgent need to key in entrepreneurs in areas of value addition of raw materials and manufacturing.

  “We are targeting about 700 entrepreneurs this year. All we need to do is start processing those raw materials and produce manufactured goods and we will significantly increase Africa’s three per cent global trade immediately with almost no effort,” he said.

  He pointed out that TEF was engineered to spur African economy through promoting competitiveness and growth in the private sector with the aim to promote excellence in business leadership and entrepreneurship across Africa.

  Also speaking at the event, the Founder, TEF, Tony Elumelu said that TEF was consistently initiating policies, providing directions and guidance on how best to realise its strategic intent to showcase entrepreneurs to the world but stressed that for this to happen, there is a need for Africa to have the right enabling environment in place; polices that are consistent and supporting entrepreneurship; provide access to finance and also provide leadership and mentoring to drive entrepreneurship growth.

  “We are happy to announce that some of the beneficiaries of the Tony Elumelu Foundation are here and they would share their experiences with us. I am very optimistic about the future of Africa and I am also worried about the challenges that is beginning to show its ugly face and we must do something about it,” he said.

  According to him, the worst of all is the issue of unemployment and maintained that for Africa to meet its job requirement, it needed to provide about 200 million jobs.

  “We only have the capacity to create only about 53 million jobs in five years from now. So the challenge is what is going to happen to the rest if we do not do something about it. 

  This brings to the fore about the significance of what we are trying to achieve at TEF. Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in every economy is the engine of growth and if we succeed in providing the necessary support for SMEs, they will do well and if they do well, there is a direct correlation of SMEs doing well and also creating employment for Africa.

  “The future for Africa is bright, but we have to start doing something to address these challenges. Africa needs a lot in terms of infrastructure, right polices and leadership for sustainable development but if security is lacking or not present, we cannot do so much,” he said.

  He also said that security was a threat in some parts of Africa and some parts in Nigeria, calling for the need to engage private sector solution to solving security challenges in Africa.

  “As they say, threat to mankind anywhere is threat to mankind everywhere. If we engage private sector solution to solve security challenges in Africa and Nigeria, we would have gone a long way in propelling the growth of the African continent and the economy. I want to thank our advisory board members who all have the mind of Africa. They have being extremely supportive from across the globe. The main objective of the TEF would not have been achieved without their support, “ he said.

  Lady Lynn de Rothschild, a member of the advisory board, TEF said that there was an equal amount of dream, hard work and talent across every income bracket and gender in the country but stressed that what is lacking is the opportunity to showcase these attributes.

  She commended the foundation for creating opportunities for the youth to showcase their talent saying that Nigeria ranked 120th among 128 countries for global competitive index is not good for the economy.

  “It does not have to be like that. The people here can change that and it is the business people like Tony and entrepreneurs who believe in the sheer responsibility we all have to make our economy and capitalism work everyone. 

  The idea of Afro-capitalism will be a profound idea that would travel around the world and Africa really has the opportunity to show the rest of the world how it can do it,” she added.