The Nation Newspaper

Tag: Business Leaders

  • Asian-African Leadership Forum honours business leaders

    The impact of the Asian-African Chamber of Commerce and Industry (AACII) Intercontinental Leadership Forum held in New Delhi, India  will linger on for a very long time.

    The forum, which drew diplomats from various countries, including Nigeria, Zimbabwe, South Korea, Mallawi and South Africa with over 250 professionals and many industrial sectors, had its theme dedicated to the United Nations Sustainable Developmental Goals 2030.

    Leadership awards were conferred on leaders and organizations that have shown exceptional pace-setting performances in developing businesses.

    In his opening address, the Founder and Chairman of AACCI, Dr. G.D. Singh, called for collaboration between African and Asian countries for the development of business in Asia and Africa.

    He described the forum “as the first of its kind which gave an open platform which amalgamates the most brilliant talents and empowers the leaders of tomorrow.”

    In his own contribution, Mr. Chris Eze, Nigerian High Commissioner in India, highlighted the existing relationship between India and Nigeria in various areas, including agriculture, defence, trade, capacity building, health care, infrastructure and socio-cultural relations.

    He added that “India is a developmental partner of Nigeria with emphasis on strong knowledge and experience with a view to improving capacity building in diverse areas.”

    In his own contribution, Mr. Maxwell Ranga, Ambassador of the Republic of Zimbabwe in India, emphasized the need to tap natural synergies between India and Zimbabwe and scope for engagement in health care, agriculture, hospitality, infrastructure and SME sectors.

    The Asian-African Chamber of Commerce (AACCI) and Indian Importers Chamber of Commerce signed the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) which will strengthen business relations and develop reciprocal cooperation to establish a practical framework to facilitate the development of stronger business relations between the two chambers.

    All dignitaries at the event emphasized the role of Africa in the next economic boom and chambers like AACCI would be elemental in catalyzing this boom.

  • Nova Merchant Bank chairman advises business leaders

    Nova Merchant Bank Limited  Chairman, Phillips Oduoza, has said building a successful businesses requires courage and resilience.

    He spoke while delivering the Convocation Lecture to the 2017/2018 Leo Graduating Class at Babcock University in Ilisan Remo, Ogun State.

    Oduoza, a former Group Managing Director/CEO of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, said: “Courage and Resilience are character traits common amongst all entrepreneurs, who have been successful as it enabled them to take risks and overcome various obstacles on the road to success.”

    Explaining further, Oduoza said courage is not the absence of fear, but the ability to persist in spite of it, while resilience is the ability to recover from or adjust easily to misfortune or change.

    He challenged Nigerian youths to take advantage of opportunities currently available in the country, especially in agriculture, FinTech, arts and entertainment. “The government’s focus on the diversification of the Nigerian economy has created opportunities across the agriculture value chain for aspiring entrepreneurs covering inputs, such as fertiliser, farming, storage, processing, manufacturing and transportation.

    The tech startup ecosystem in Nigeria is awash with opportunities for young entrepreneurs to create innovative solutions to address many of the structural issues facing the country. Emerging areas such as FinTech, the sharing economy, artificial intelligence amongst others present opportunities to start innovative businesses,” he said.

    On what graduands and aspiring entrepreneurs could learn from his personal life, Oduoza said young business leaders should seek knowledge, build a strong network, be true to themselves, but most importantly “must work very hard, no matter how intelligent you are. It is very rare to find a successful person, who is not a hard-working person. There is no substitute for hard work.”

    President/Vice Chancellor, Babcock University, Ilisan Remo, Prof. Adeola Tayo,   eulogised Oduoza, who he described as a loyal friend of the institution. He acknowledged his efforts in forging a good relationship between Babcock University and his former institution.

    “There is no better person to speak at this event than Oduoza, who having had a successful tenure as CEO of one of Africa’s largest financial institutions, midwifed the birth of a new Merchant Bank, which has achieved many feats in its first year of operation,” Tayo said.

  • Political will needed to develop Africa, say Dangote, Utomi, others

    Political will needed to develop Africa, say Dangote, Utomi, others

    …NEXIM Bank President presents book on Trade Finance

     

    Business leaders Wednesday said Africa cannot realise its economic potentials without political will.

    Africa’s richest man Aliko Dangote, professor of political economy Pat Utomi and former Cross Rivers State governor Donald Duke said Africa would continue to lag behind unless leaders show more commitment to free trade and revise their strategies.

    They spoke in Lagos at the launch of the book: Foundations of Structured Trade Finance, written by President and Chairman of the Board of Directors of the African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank) Dr Benedict Okey Oramah.

    Also at the event were former Vice President Namadi Sambo, Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Mr Okechukwu Enelamah, represented by Mr Femi Edun, former Anambra State Governor Peter Obi and Chairman of Heir Holdings Tony Elumelu, amongst others.

    Dangote said trade within the continent remains difficult due to difficult visa requirements and too many borders.

    According to him, Africa can do a lot more in terms of its ability to produce and export goods.

    He said: “We’re making things difficult for ourselves. I need 38 visas out 54 in Africa, but it is not so in Europe. The regional markets are not working. We need to allow the regional markets work,” he said.

    The industrialist regretted that Africa depends too much on importation to meet local demands, noting that 90 per cent of milk consumed in Nigeria, for instance, is imported. “We need to have a rethink,” he said.

    Utomi said African desperately needs “thought leadership,” adding that military rule adversely affected Africa’s intellectual contribution to development.

    “It’s between life and death. We have to make choices. Afreximbank has an important role in facilitating thought leadership in Africa. You have got to rethink everything. Africa needs to begin to produce,” he said.

    Duke said there needs to be a free trade zone within Africa. Besides, he said African states need to start accepting local currencies as means trade rather than dollars.

    “For instance, you can accept the Rand for the purchase of crude oil. We need to work out mechanisms for trading on our currencies. We need political will to achieve it,” he said.

    Enelamah said the government would continue to provide an enabling environment for businesses to thrive, including helping exporters improve product quality.

    The government, he added, would also carry out a coordinated review of the regime of incentives to replace “pioneer reliefs” with holistic incentives.

    Oramah said the book was written to fill the knowledge gap in trade financing.

    He said: “It became the case that this knowledge, or lack thereof, soon became a determinant of access to trade finance and the pace of economic recovery.

    “Spreading the knowledge was difficult because given that this field of financing evolved from practice, no text books existed, and it did not and still does not feature in the curriculum of universities offering Finance, Economics or Business except in some universities in Europe where special courses have begun to emerge.

    “Given that I had the privilege of hands-on experience in this important subject and had made contributions to its evolution, including articles published in books and as a resource person in seminars and workshops world-wide, transferring and exchanging knowledge on the subject, I thought it a responsibility to document the subject in a book that would deal with the philosophical foundations and the practice.

    “My hope is that with access to the book, the different universities can find ways of beginning to introduce this important subject into their curricular to improve the quality of their Economics, Finance and Banking graduates and make them more employable internationally.”

  • UBA chief urges banks on capacity

    UBA chief urges banks on capacity

    The Group Managing Director/CEO, UBA Plc  Mr. Phillips Oduoza has called on financial institutions in Africa to seize the opportunity provided by the President Obama led US-Africa Business Leaders Summit and the enthusiasm about Africa, to boost capacity.

    According to him, much of the challenges of financing growth and development on the continent lie in the hands of financial institutions, working in collaboration with international development finance institutions, investors, and private equity firms particularly from the US .

    Speaking in Washington DC , the UBA boss said the three-day summit will impact positively on helping to change the information asymmetries about Africa in the US and the rest of the world. Beyond the negative press about the continent in the western media, he said there are a lot of positive developments in Africa , with stable democracies in most countries, improved business climates and abundant investment opportunities in agriculture, power, transportation, telecommunications, energy and other sectors.

    “As one of the largest banks on the continent, with operations in 19 African countries,  we have made huge investments in these countries and have continued to grow our business as well as contributing to the finance and developmental needs of these countries” he stated.

    Describing the summit as the largest gathering of investors, financiers, businessmen and political leaders from Africa and the US.