There is hope for entrepreneurship here!
GGIST has entrepreneurship experts and global specialists in different fields, relevant to the rapid building of wealth and profitability in our member businesses. Having considered what we would call the entrepreneurship landscape in Nigeria we have concluded that much effort to build entrepreneurs is focused on Lagos. It is therefore our duty to build the same capability across the nation and currently we are focusing heavily on the capital, Abuja.
Government have setup some support measures, particularly the small to medium size businesses, the SME sector but the projects have been delivered by civil servants or politicians and so the exact and precise skills that entrepreneurs need has been overlooked.
Now what is really needed we are doing- building swift business creation and development skills_ supporting business on the ground.
To this end we will capture some success stories as it is important for entrepreneurs to learn from similar businesses while keeping your own unique focus.
Case Study: Entrepreneurship in Lagos
The 4th A.M Agoro Entrepreneurship Lecture Series (AMAELS) took place recently in Lagos tagged; “SME Funding: A Catalyst for Nigeria’s Economic Growth – The way forward” by the Agoro dynasty is one with success stories, says the organiser.
The annual event instituted four years ago in honour of the late Abudu Mukandasi Agoro was created to educate and redirect entrepreneurial business mode of operation, by providing information, awareness and contributing to knowledge that the Small and Medium Entrepreneurs (SMEs) require to grow their businesses.
The event had in attendance, the Deputy Governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat as special guest, represented by the Permanent Secretary, Lagos State Ministry of Transport, Kamal Olowo; Babatunde Dabiri, Former CEO Sterling Bank PLC as Chairman; Peter Bamkole as keynote speaker, moderated by Adesola Abudu, CEO, Industrial Projects International (IPI) among others that constitute the panelists and the audience.
Late Abudu Makandasi Agoro was born in 1892 to an illustrious family of Late Pa Abudu-Rahman in Lagos. He was a quick learner who went into commerce after his early education, became successful and managed his company A. M Agoro and Brothers to an enviable height and was adjudged a man of considerable wealth in the 1930s and 40s in Lagos.
A.M Agoro distinguished himself as a dogged entrepreneur building most of the boats used for ferrying foods within Lagos riverine communities and houses in Lagos and Ibadan.
He was an entrepreneurial influencer nicknamed “Baba Contractor” and “Agoro Omo Baba Ebute.” Under these premises comes the intent to immortalise his name with a lecture series by the Agoro dynasty.
Explaining the reason behind the AMELS lecture series, Dr. Adrienne Tikolo, member of the A. M. Agoro family said; “We are immortalising the name of our father, grandfather and great-grandfather, Abudu Mukandasi Agoro through something that he embodied.
He has contributed to the entrepreneurship landscape in Nigeria, Lagos in particular. The idea of the lecture series is to provide support to the entrepreneurs, especially to contribute to the body of knowledge they need to grow their businesses.
This year, we are focusing on SME funding as a catalyst for the growth of Nigeria’s economy. The entrepreneurs who are physically here and some that are online expect to get information on how they can get funding, make use of it to enhance their enterprises.
“Here today, we have an array of speakers who did justice to the topic and I am certain that everybody benefited from the knowledge. The beneficiaries are huge. Entrepreneurs contribute a lot to the economy and make up to 98 percent of businesses in Nigeria. With the fourth in the lecture series, both online and in-persons’ feedbacks has been tremendous through emails and contacts,” she said.
Tikolo also explained that the aim of the lecture series over the years has been to support entrepreneurs, inspire and create awareness about the problems that entrepreneurs face. She said that the challenge for moving forward is to do something, take action on behalf of the entrepreneurs.
Training is the key
“As a family, our focus is on training and providing knowledge to a body of entrepreneurs and perhaps, provides funding for some of them to start their own businesses such that they can become employers of labour and reduce the unemployment rate in Nigeria.
“Although our duty for now is to contribute knowledge and business information, as we are not a funding agency. By doing so, we help the entrepreneurs to be better informed and to know where to go for funding, when to start a business and how to make it grow.
“We have also considered taking steps further to provide training; like a training institute that will handle the entrepreneurs and with time, map out funds for some of them that can go ahead and grow their businesses,” she added.
To conclude our little research, business is moving in Nigeria despite the infrastructure and economic challenges and it is important that this is supported by everyone who care about the future of the nation.
