‘Wherever there is problem somewhere, there is opportunity’
Pat Utomi, a renowned economist and management expert, has said that wherever there is a problem anywhere, there is an opportunity to be exploited.
Utomi said this at the 2nd National Summit on Entrepreneurship and Innovation, organised by African Centre for Business Development, Strategy and Innovation held in Lagos.
Utomi said entrepreneurship was about problem-solving and making a quantum leap in value creation.
“What transforms society is a quantum leap in value creation. None of the ten richest men in the world has an oil well,” he said.
He said government played a vital role in the economy but not to create jobs, adding that it was often a globally competitive value chain that would take a country out of poverty.
Sam Ohuabunwa, convener, reeled out data by Forbes, showing that the youth in the Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) were more interested in jobs.
“The major driver of jobs is small and medium enterprises (SMEs),” Ohuabunwa said, while calling on government to award contracts only when the number of jobs that would be created from them would be ascertained.
He said from the data, young people in SSA believed that agric, manufacturing and services would create the most jobs.
“Given the operating environment which remains challenging, many entrepreneurs and their enterprises are facing difficulties and a number have become disillusioned, with the possibility of shutting down. Yet some entrepreneurs are flourishing in this environment. So how are they doing it,” he asked.
Rasheed Olaoluwa, CEO, Bank of Industry (BoI), said the development bank often considered the number of jobs that would be created by an enterprise before granting loans, calling on Nigerians exporters to add value to their commodities so as to bring more foreign exchange into the country.
Uche Ogah, president, Master’s Energy, said the baton was not properly handed down to the younger generation by the older generation of the First Republic.
“Great entrepreneurs did not go into their enterprises to make money. They went in to create a value and solve a problem,” Ogah advised young entrepreneurs.
“There are always gaps around. Look at these gaps. You must have the eye of an eagle to see opportunities. It is the role of the government to provide infrastructure that will enable entrepreneurs to come in,” he added.
ODINAKA ANUDU