Nigerian-British Chamber to focus on SME growth

The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) says it will focus on the micro, small and medium enterprises (MSME) as well as on agriculture.

Speaking at a farewell dinner party in honour of Dapo Adelagan, immediate past president of the NBCC, Akin Olawore, current president, said the chamber aspired to grow during his tenure.

“So plans have been drawn out and our focus is on agriculture and around the MSMEs. We want to create business opportunities for our members, provide private sector-led initiatives which we have already discussed internally with the government,”Olawore said, at the farewell party held last Thursday in Lagos.

He said the economy was going through a downturn but added that there would be growth, a situation calling for a lot of synergy.

He further said the present challenge was economic recession, which had been hindering foreign investors from coming.

“The economic downturn is one challenging factor hindering foreign investors from coming to invest, but we have devised strategies of bringing them in.

“Therefore, our goals in the NBCC are to facilitate the development of humidity-free and air-conditioned warehouses at the airport to aid export. More so, we want to aid peasant farmers by providing them with marketing boards to help them reach standards to make their produce exportable and at the same time create an aggregate where local people can buy,” he stated.

According to Dapo Adelagan, immediate past president, he assumed office when the economy was challenging and many businesses were dealing with insolvency due to the economic recession.

“I believe that with every economic problem, there is always an opportunity. Therefore, we joined hands together, we plunged into diversification, capacity building, and other opportunities, and it did pay off,” Adelegan said.

ODINAKA ANUDU