In spite of the harsh business operating environment in the country including lack of funding and electricity outage, the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) can still thrive, Divisional Head, Retail and Consumer Banking Strategy and Innovation, Sterling Bank, Shina Atilola, has said.
Atilola expressed the awareness of the initial fund raising challenges; expertise, market preparation, as well as marketing communication among others confronting the SMEs.
The Sterling bank chief who spoke during the African Food and Products Exhibition (AFPE), in Lagos recalled that SMEs in the western world enjoyed a lot of subsidy to make them grow, adding that in Nigeria, they don’t have those benefits, as it takes those that are extremely hard working to be successful in the business in Nigeria.
Atilola argued that those challenges could not be eliminated from yet a developing country like Nigeria, insisting that the challenges should rather be opportunity for the SMEs to do things differently.
“I give you an instance of somebody who was processing cassava to garri and power was a major issue for him. 13 percent of his expenses was on power generation. He converted the cassava peels and cassava water and animal feeds to generate gas and the gas generated helped him to power his machines. So, he did not spend money on power again.”
The aim was to generate organic fertilizer to use in his farm and he is no longer buying organic fertilizer from the market. So, challenges lead to the opportunity of being creative and innovative in solving problems that are unique and to make money from it.
He spoke to them about the agricultural value chain where the waste can be converted to wealth in order to reduce cost.
Speaking on converting cassava peels and water to generate gas for powering their equipment, he noted that it will help them reduce their cost of power by more than 30 percent.
National President, NACC, Oluwatoyin Akomolafe said this year’s AFPE was aimed at addressing two key elements in growing companies sustainability and innovation.
Akomolafe said, as the foremost bilateral chamber of commerce in Nigeria, the chamber had come to realise the importance of strong organisational structure and the need for innovative technology as a pathway to business success, with focus on SMEs.
He agreed oil extraction and processing had positively shaped the economy of Nigeria, however, it is equally doubtful Nigeria’s futuristic growth could be sustained with the same source.
He expressed the need for diversification in SMEs sustainability and innovation to play their role in contributing to economic prosperity.
He stressed, “The contribution of SME’s sustainability and innovation to economic prosperity has grown with the shift of the global economy towards a mode of production in which knowledge has become a key input. Vigorous entrepreneurship and SME development are among the most important conditions for successfully meeting the challenges.
“No doubt, government policies are needed and these should be based on a sound understanding of how new and small firms innovate for sustainability. The OECD experience suggests that what makes these firms different from large corporations in their ‘road to innovation’ is their strong emphasis on collaboration.”
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