.: BOLA ADEBOYE SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER AT THE FORTH CO...

.: BOLA ADEBOYE SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER AT THE FORTH CO...: How entrepreneurship can rescue the economy —Adeboye Penultimate week, Bola Adeboye, Vice President, Global Business Network,...

BOLA ADEBOYE SPECIAL GUEST SPEAKER AT THE FORTH COMING WEST AFRICA SME CONFERENCE AND AWARDS OF EXCELLENCE SPEAKS ON ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT

How entrepreneurship can rescue the economy —Adeboye

Penultimate week, Bola Adeboye, Vice President, Global Business Network, MD/CEO, Nigeria Police Mortgage Bank Plc and founder, Spark School of Entrepreneurship, spoke with Omotayo Lewis and Abiodun Awolaja on the role of entrepreneurship in reviving the Nigerian economy, among other issues, shortly after delivering the 4th Matriculation Lecture of the McPherson University, Ogun State. Excerpts:

From your CV, it seems that, in the last 15 years, you have been involved in the crusade for entrepreneurship as an economic solution in Nigeria. Now that the nation seems to be at the crossroads economically, why do you think we have not been able to latch unto it in Nigeria?

The government has not been too serious. But now, I guess they have to take it serious because we have been warning that there is a need to diversify our economic base. No country in the world that has oil, depends on oil. America has been buying oil and putting it in reserve. Britain discovered oil, but they just left it there. United Arab Emirate got oil and converted it into other industries; they converted it into tourism. But in Nigeria, we were making money from the oil and it is being shared between the Federal Government and the state governments; it is wrong, it is an anomaly. In the process, we left our productive sector, we left agriculture, and we left industries. Where are the rubber plantations?

We have to go back to basics and it will encourage regional balance in development, it will solve economic and social problems, it will reduce crime rate, it will create employment for the up and coming ones. We have over thirty eight million Nigerians that are unemployed. It’s a concern, we have been shouting it but government has no choice now. Very soon, nobody will even buy our oil, and then we will have to look inwards for other things. And we are blessed with so many human resources, mineral resources. We have eight million graduates that are unemployed; they are untapped and they are undeveloped.

In the past, government specifically put money into the textile industry…

But they are dead, because we cannot compete with foreign countries.

If you had the opportunity of being the coordinating minister of the economy like we used to have, what specifically will you do?

Let me tell you certain things that I would do. One, I would advocate for gradual stoppage of oil revenue sharing.

But that would cripple the states?

It will not. You make the states more rational. Do you want to tell me that Ondo State does not have cocoa? Where are the cocoa research institutes, the International Institute of Tropical Agriculture? Most of the research institutions are dead. We don’t invest in research. Malaysia came here, picked our palm seedlings and turned it into so many products. If we continue to say that the states should continue to be dependent on the Federal Government, we will continue to kill ourselves. The states should look inwards, identify the resources they have.

We have countries that have exported even human resources. India did it when they were going through their own process. You would find Indians all over and the people were remitting foreign currencies back home. There is a need for Nigerianisation, there is a need for us to operate as a nation. There is a need for us to identify ourselves collectively. I am not saying the states should not be given money, but it should be targeted at the productive sectors. We might make it a condition: the Federal Government would tell the states: “We will give you your money, it’s your allocation. But you should channel it to productive sectors that can generate revenue.” Look at the budget we are having now, six trillion naira, but over four trillion is on recurrent expenditure. For capital expenditure, we want to go and borrow money, and that is why I have my fears.

You mentioned in your lecture that entrepreneurs don’t necessarily have to have money, that it is ideas that rule the world. Would you like to elaborate on that, for our youths?

Ideas rule the world, even in the most developed parts of the world. Dangote started with N500, 000 borrowed money. It was not his money, Richard Branson started with records selling, and Bill Gate wrote just Microsoft programmes, for his vacation fee; he sacrificed it. So, what we are saying is, you need little or no capital. Let me give you my book “How to start your business with little or no capital”. If you go through, you will see that most great business men started with little or nothing. I started with nothing, but the capital base of my bank now is N5.5 billion. What will germinate in you, what you need, what will stimulate you, what will continue to maintain you, what will propel you, is that idea.

The Yoruba say “Owo ti omodebakoko pa, akara lo ma fi je.” (A child will typically waste the first money that he or she makes). What is the meaning of that, except you don’t respect the Yoruba culture? It is a tested and proven case that, for most people that started business, there is the tendency of failure, but when you don’t give up be of course, you will make it. You need to have resilience, the ability to go the extra mile, and tenacity. When the troubles are much, you have the tendency of giving up, but if you don’t give up, you will eventually make it.

The universities have introduced entrepreneurship studies and your book, a recommended text, seems to be one of the very few available. Do you think lack of good books is one problem for the youths?

They are not giving them enough; they are not supporting them enough. But even apart from the books, the schools should encourage their students to try their hands at something. Some may go into fashion; some may go into vocational skills. They are all in my paper. My wife started with brown paper, sewing of brown paper. Now she is into export-oriented fashion designing.

What if there is no electricity to power it?

You don’t need electricity to power brown paper. From there, she ventured into adire, and then she started going into textiles. Later, she started going abroad, sewing cloths for Africans. And then, she started bringing in clothing materials. We have to start somewhere, I have seen some adire fabrics, they are fantastic, but are we encouraging that industry? It is only in this country that you will find the government officials going with 17cars on their entourage. I was in Britain, I saw the Prime Minister.

Maybe, they have learnt from the Murtala Muhammed case...

Which Murtala Mohammed’s case? In Europe, nobody would shoot you because they know that you are not in power to take any money. If we need governance to be open, transparent and not rewarding, nobody would shoot anybody. But when you get to power and say “Let me eat my own,” you encourage capital flight.

How do you assess the economic policies of the present government?

We have good policies. My problem is implementation and we have to address it. One government comes and sets its policy, and another comes and cancels it. In Britain, in USA and the developed economies, they continue with the process because if you do so, they continue with the process, they will mature, they will pass through a lot and yet they will succeed. But here, because I want to take the glory, I would cancel your own policy. And then, our people in leadership are too powerful. We have to reduce the potency, the power given to the leaders. There must be dissemination of power.

Accra ranked top city to see growth in the next 5years

Companies looking to expand into Africa should seriously consider setting up shop in Accra, Lusaka and Luanda.
This is if the recently released MasterCard African Cities Growth Index is to be believed. The index, produced on behalf of MasterCard by Prof. George Angelopulo of the University of South Africa, includes 19 sub-Saharan African cities, ranking them according to their economic growth potential between 2012 and 2017.
The capitals of Ghana, Zambia and Angola have been identified as the sub-Saharan African cities that have the greatest economic growth potential over the next five years. Sudan’s capital Khartoum is expected to show the lowest growth of all the cities included in the study.
Below are the cities and their ranking:
1. Accra (Ghana)
2. Lusaka (Zambia)
3. Luanda (Angola)
4. Dar es Salaam (Tanzania)
5. Addis Ababa (Ethiopia)
6. Nairobi (Kenya)
7. Kampala (Uganda)
8. Johannesburg (South Africa)
9. Kinshasa (DRC)
10. Durban (South Africa)
11. Cape Town (South Africa)
12. Mombasa (Kenya)
13. Lagos (Nigeria)
14. Abuja (Nigeria)
15. Dakar (Senegal)
16. Harare (Zimbabwe)
17. Kano (Nigeria)
18. Abidjan (Côte d’Ivoire)
19. Khartoum (Sudan)
To compile the index, Angelopulo looked at various data related to city-level economic growth.
He said that the reasons for the Ghanaian capital Accra’s high ranking is because of its GDP per capita growth in recent years, its projected consumption growth, a strong regulatory environment, and the relative ease of doing business compared to other African cities.
South Africa’s economic hub Johannesburg is lower on the list as a result of sluggish growth expectation due to its relative maturity when compared with other cities on the continent.
The United Nations estimates that Africa’s urban population will triple by 2050, reaching 1.23 billion people. It is expected that by this time 60% of the continent’s population will live in urban areas.
“One of Africa’s key economic and social challenges is how its cities attract significant inward investment by being globally competitive, serving as magnets for investment and growth, hot-spots of innovation and, most importantly, developing attractive and thriving business environments,” said Angelopulo.
Last year consulting firm McKinsey suggested in a report that cities, not countries, should drive investment decisions in Africa, noting that “most companies are still not looking at cities as they calibrate strategy”. The firm found that “less than one in five executives is making location and resource decisions at the city, rather than the country, level”.
“Companies that understand the shifting urban marketplaces relevant to their businesses and build an early presence with sufficient scale are likely to benefit from being the incumbent with better market access and higher margins. Looking at cities rather than countries can be eye-opening. Take laundry care products as an example. We expect to see more sales growth of these products in São Paulo than in either France or Malaysia over the next decade,” noted the report.
Source: howwemadeitinafrica.com

THE WEST AFRICA SME CONFERENCE AND AWARDS CONTRIBUTES TO THE DEVELOPMENT OF THE SECTOR, HOLDS IN ACCRA- PRINCE IKE O. SMARTY

As the emerging economies of the world continue to see the importance of micro, small and medium enterprises MSMEs to the growth and development of their nations, more platforms continue to spring up to further the cause of this extremely important sector.

For Africa generally, the MSME sector have for years been the sustaining factor in the quest for development and economic growth. This and other factors have led to this platform that is aimed at contributing to the improvement in the sector.

According to Prince Ike Smarty, the promoter of the West African SME Conference and Awards of Excellence (WASCA), and publisher of Africa Informer,

“ It is imperative for Africa to continuously create avenues for discussions and sharing of ideas on how to grow our MSMEs, because they are the bedrock of our survival. MSMEs employ millions, more than big corporations and multi nationals put together, in terms of cumulative cash flow you cannot shrug them aside, many are now home grown productive businesses. The advantages of continuously promoting the growth of this sector are unquantifiable”

Continuing he said, “The West Africa SME Conference seeks to bring together, relevant Government Agencies, CEOs  and  Decision makers of Small and Medium Enterprises, SME finance institutions, Foreign and African  Investors in the sector, Financial Engineers, budding and established Entrepreneurs as well as Captains of industry, to discuss ideas and proffer solutions that will engineer sustainable growth and remarkable turnaround in the fortunes of players in the Small and Medium Enterprises in West Africa in particular and Africa generally.

With the Theme : Reinventing  SME Financing For Better Impact, Improved Returns and Sustainable Growth, the one day conference will discuss at length, more viable options that will improve on the development and growth of small and medium businesses.

The West Africa SME Awards of Excellence will also be presented to outstanding SMEs that have made remarkable impact in their various areas of the  sector across West Africa, in areas like; Agriculture and Allied sector, Health Care, Manufacturing / FMCGs, Technology, IT, Hospitality, SME Finance, Trade, Environment, Real Estate, Public Administration, and a host of others.

Expected to deliver the Keynote id His Excellency Dr. John Jerry Rawlings, Former President of Ghana. Special Guest Speaker is Mr. Bola Adeboye, MD, Nigeria Police Mortgage Bank, Abuja, Nigeria. Other Speakers include Prof. Joshua Y. Abor, Dean, University of Ghana Business School, Legon. Prof. Godfred Bokpin, Head of Finance Department, University of Ghana Business School, Legon.

The one day conference comes up by the last week of April at the British Council in Accra.

Meanwhile a number of awardees and nominees have emerged in the run up to the event, namely, Erisco Foods Nigeria, Abii National Savings and Loans Ghana, Spark Entrepreneur School Lagos, Heavens Insecticides Ghana, Neuce Paints Ghana, Agyappiah bitters Ghana, E Barc Microfinance Ltd, Abuja-Nigeria, Adehyeman Savings and Loans Ghana, Unicredit Ghana, AG Mortgage Bank Lagos, Nigeria, , Women’s World Banking Ghana, Lapo Micro Finance, Benin City, Nigeria, Advans Savings and Loans Ghana Blue Crest Fashion College Ghana and a host of others.

GOLDMYNE LTD LAGOS, ASA SAVINGS AND LOANS GHANA, ABII NATIONAL SAVINGS AND LOANS ACCRA, ERISCO FOODS LTD LAGOS, SPARKS ENTREPRENUAL SCHOOL, LAGOS , BLUE CREST FASHION AND DESIGN INSTITUTE, ACCRA, join list of awardees

GOLDMYNE LTD LAGOS, ASA SAVINGS AND LOANS GHANA, ABII NATIONAL SAVINGS AND LOANS  ACCRA, ERISCO FOODS LTD LAGOS, SPARKS ENTREPRENUAL SCHOOL, LAGOS , BLUE CREST FASHION AND DESIGN INSTITUTE, ACCRA, join list of awardees/nominees

More awardees have emerged for the WEST AFRICA SME CONFERENCE AND AWARDS 2015, coming up on the 27th April 2016 at the prestigious British Council Auditorium in Accra the Ghanain capital.
Lagos Nigeria based Goldmyne Ltd, has being tipped for the   MOST INNOVATIVE SME ORGANIZATION (MANUFACTURING SUPPORT) award, while Lagos based Sparks Entrepreneurial School is the MOST OUTSTANDING ENTERPRISE DEVELOPMENT ORGANIZATION. ABII NATIONAL, a top savings and loans organization in Ghana which has been in the forefront in the financing of SMEs has emerged GHANA'S TOP QUALITY FINANCE BRAND FOR SME DEVELOPMENT & SERVICE EXCELLENCE, in view of its impeccable service in the development of SMEs in Ghana and across the West Africa sub region. In the same vain, Chief Odinaka Eric Umeofia, emerges the  African Indigenous Entrepreneur of the year for the remarkable success of his foods manufacturing company that produces some of the best indigenous  Tomato Paste brands in the market today. His factories and hectares of farmlands emply thousands of people across Nigeria and West Africa.  
Asa Savings and Loans Ghana has emerged AS MOST EFFICIENT SAVINGS AND LOANS ORGANIZATION IN GHANA, while Blue Crest Fashion Institute, is the Most Outstanding SME Development Organization (Fashion Sector)

The Chief Guest Speaker Mr. Bola Adeboye has been confirmed for the event, while the duo of Prof. Joshua Y. Abor (Dean) and Prof. Godfried Bokpin (Head of Finance Department) have both confirmed their  attendance as guest speaker.

Nominees in various categories who were selected after extensive  research by members of the awards committee in Nigeria and Ghana, include:   E Barc Microfinance Ltd, Abuja, Nigeria, Adehyeman Savings and Loans Ghana, Unicredit Ghana, AG Mortgage Bank Lagos, Nigeria, Abii National Ghana, Women’s World Banking Ghana, Lapo Micro Finance, Benin City, Nigeria, Ivory Savings and Loans Ghana, Union Savings and Loans Ghana, Diamond Capital Savings and Loans Ghana and a few others, in the SME FINANCE CATEGORY.

 Chief Eric Umeofia, Executive Chairman Erisco Foods

















Mr.GODFRIED OSEI-BOAKYE – Managing Director, Abii National

WEST AFRICA SME Awards of Excellence will also be presented to outstanding SMEs that have made remarkable impact in their various areas of the  sector across West Africa, in areas like; Agriculture and Allied sector, Health Care, Manufacturing / FMCGs, Technology, IT, Hospitality, Trade, Environment, Real Estate, Public Administration, and a host of others. More than 50 nominees -awardees have already been penciled down in these categories. The Keynote Addressis expected to be delivered  by His Excellency Dr. John Jerry Rawlings, Former President of Ghana.

AWARDEES AND NOMINEES EMERGE AT THE WEST AFRICA SME CONFERENCE AND AWARDS ACCRA

AWARDEES AND NOMINEES EMERGE AT THE WEST AFRICA SME CONFERENCE AND AWARDS ACCRA 

ABII NATIONAL GHANA and ERISCO FOODS LTD NIGERIA EMERGE AWARDEES

Awardees and nominees have emerged as the count down to the up coming WEST AFRICA SME CONFERENCE AND AWARD OF EXCELLENCE (WASCAEX 2016) begins.

ABII NATIONAL, a top savings and loans organization in Ghana which has been in the forefront in the financing of SMEs has emerged as GHANA'S TOP QUALITY FINANCE BRAND FOR SME DEVELOPMENT & SERVICE EXCELLENCE

Chief Eric Umeofia , Chairman Erisco Foods

 in view of its impeccable service in the development of SMEs in Ghana and across the West Africa sub region.

                  Mr.GODFRIED OSEI-BOAKYE – Managing Director, Abii National

 In the same vain, Chief Odinaka Eric Umeofia, emerges the  AFRICAN INDIGENOUS ENTREPRENEUR OF THE YEAR for the remarkable success of his foods manufacturing company that produces some of the best indigenous  Tomato Paste brands in the market today. His factories and hectares of farmlands empoly thousands of people across Nigeria and West Africa.

Nominees in various categories who were selected after extensive research by members of the awards committee in Nigeria and Ghana, include:   E Barc Microfinance Ltd, Abuja, Nigeria, Adehyeman Savings and Loans Ghana, Unicredit Ghana, AG Mortgage Bank Lagos, Nigeria, Abii National Ghana, Women’s World Banking Ghana, Lapo Micro Finance, Benin City, Nigeria, Ivory Savings and Loans Ghana, Union Savings and Loans Ghana, Diamond Capital Savings and Loans Ghana and a few others, in the SME FINANCE CATEGORY.

WEST AFRICA SME Awards of Excellence will also be presented to outstanding SMEs that have made remarkable impact in their various areas of the  sector across West Africa, in areas like; Agriculture and Allied sector, Health Care, Manufacturing / FMCGs, Technology, IT, Hospitality, Trade, Environment, Real Estate, PublicAdministration, and a host of others. More than 50 awardees have already been penciled down in these categories.

THE one-day CONFERENCE/AWARDS holds on Wednesday 27th April, 2016, at The British Council Auditorium, Accra-Ghana.

Keynote Address by Dr. John Jerry Rawlings, Former President of Ghana. Special Guest of Honour: Ghana Minister of Trade and Industry.Special Guest Speaker : Pastor Bola Adeboye, MD, Nigeria Police Mortgage Bank, Abuja, Nigeria. Guest Speakers : Prof. Joshua Y. Abor, Dean, University of Ghana Business School, Legon. Prof. Stephen Adjei, Fmr. Rector Ghana Institute of Management and PublicAdministration, GIMPA, Accra.  Mr. Arnold Boateng, Enterprise Consultant and Author, Accra