How MSME owners can benefit from International Business Development Summit
Micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) are businesses that have less than 200 employees or assets worth below N500 million. A business is equally categorised an MSME if it has an annual turnover of N500 million or less.
By this definition, it is obvious that more than 90 percent of enterprises in Nigeria and many parts of Africa are in this category, according to Waheed Olagunju, executive director, MSMEs for Bank of Industry, Nigeria’s most active development bank.
MSME owners constantly seek avenues to enhance their know-how and understand current trends in the industries they play. They also need mentoring, knowledge sharing and networking that will enable them improve their visibility and margins.
A great opportunity has been presented to businesses in Africa to integrate, interact and exchange ideas in all sectors: from ICT to manufacturing, down to aviation, finance and energy.
The event is the International Business Development Week/Summit, to be held at Sheraton Hotel, located in Ikeja, Lagos, Nigeria, between July 23 and 24, 2015.
“This is Africa’s biggest annual business development event,” said Ifeanyi Ogochukwu, local organising chairman, in an interview.
“The summit brings together some of the world’s greatest minds and achievers in business development across vital industries to examine and challenge business practices in Africa,” Ogochukwu said.
The business summit is critical for African MSMEs owners as it will not only guarantee networking but will enable them learn business potential of each African country.
The summit will commence with a keynote address to be followed by paper presentations, which are a series of thought-provoking and engaging sessions, covering topical issues on the theme, “ Business Development in Africa: Regional Integration for Sustainable Comparative Advantage.”
The summit is timely at this point when Africa’s exports are rejected at the borders of Europe, the Americas and other markets. The summit will enable participants learn how best to make products competitive to earn more foreign exchange now that economies of many African countries are in great peril.
“The event aims to create a sustainable model for the continent by addressing strategies for business development in ICT/telecoms, finance, agro-allied and aviation-related sectors,” said Paul Ikele, registrar/CEO, Institute of Business Development.
“Every year during the International BD Week/Summit, we celebrate entrepreneurs, business giants, governments and some of Africa’s top brands that come together to network,” Ikele said.
He added that businesses need a solid roadmap to navigate the challenges of creating and sustaining a competitive milieu.
According to the organisers, attendance is open to all interested persons and organisations in both private and public sectors as well as other key development professionals such as chief executive officers, general managers, chief operating officers, research and development managers, project managers and other business owners.
Topical issues will be discussed. Such include adopting strategies to enhance business partnership in Africa, improving aviation infrastructure nd emploting ICT as a tool of business development. There will also be presentations and awards.