It is an obvious situation that the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are confronted with several challenges which hamper their growth and the nation’s economic development.

Chiefly among the challenges that need to be addressed immediately include finding solutions to the high cost of doing business occasioned by poor infrastructure (power, roads, water), multiple taxation, high cost of legal documentation of credit facilities at both the states Lands Registries and the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC); inadequate capacity building on the part of the SMEs in the areas of entrepreneurship, and skills acquisition, resulting in the perception of the sector as high risk and poor attitude to loan repayment by borrowers in the sector.

With these in mind, Connectnigeria.com recently organized an e-Business Fair for SME owner to engage face-t-face with players in the financial, e-commerce, and telecommunication sector, and to seek palliatives to the challenges.

Speaking during a panel discussion at the Fair, Mr. Obaro Osah, head, Lagos Region, SMEs Group at Bank of Industry (BoI) said that the Bank has ben playing critical role by providing grounds for small businesses financing.

He said that the Bank has made the process of accessing funds very easy by reducing the processes to three easy activities to apply for funding now, giving every Nigerian access to funding for business.

According to him, most startups are faced with the challenge of penning down marketable business proposal.

In lieu of that, BOI entered into partnership with 232 Business Development Support Partners (BDSPs) to help the entrepreneurs in drafting presentable proposals to banks for grants or loans.

He also urged participants and other startups to embrace cashless as a means of reducing risks associated with carrying cash around, and means of packaging their activities to partake in the formal sector of the economy.

Also speaking, Mr. Mike Ogbalu, managing director, FirstMonie, the FirstBank mobile money services platform, said that they have been driving innovative mobile payment systems and commitment to continuously deliver innovative products and solutions, part of which includes enhancing the robustness of its mobile banking and mobile payments platforms.

Ogbalu while encouraging participants at the Forum to join other 2.4 million FirstMonie subscribers who enjoy services dispatched through more than 13,000 agents it has established, he said the ultimate aim is to create more value for their customers.

Firstmonie is designed to enhance financial inclusion and cater for millions of Nigeria’s unbanked and the underbanked citizens, while aligning with the Central Bank of Nigeria’s policy to promote a cashless economy in Nigeria.

Ogbalu said that the Firstmonie solution was provided to entrench e-banking through the use of the mobile phone and to mitigate the challenges of banking services delivery to the vast unbanked market.

Nigeria CommunicationsWeek recalled that, in recognition of Firstmonie continued effort to drive financial inclusion, lead innovation in mobile payment systems and support the CBN cash-less policy, the platform was awarded the Best Mobile Money Operator in Nigeria by the EFInA Financial Inclusion Awards.

From Union Bank of Nigeria’s perspective, Mr. Ayodeji Mebude, head of Channels, said that the bank sees support for SMEs growth as critical in the life of a nation.

He said, this inspired the Union Bank and as part of its transformation programmes to launch a number of initiatives targeted at the group.

Apparently, Union Bank launched an enterprise hybrid account that gives growing businesses the flexibility of a current account with the benefits of a savings account.

It is suitable for businesses such as co-operative societies, trade associations, professional bodies, social clubs and Non-governmental organizations.

Some of the features of the UnionEnterprise Hybrid Account include: access to Union Bank’s array of value adding, e-banking products and services; a minimum daily opening and closing balance of N5, 000 only; lodgement of cheques/dividend warrants; as well as provisions for third party over-the-counter transactions across the Union Bank branch network.

Additionally, UnionEnterprise Hybrid Account holders will enjoy accrued interest on their account balance at the prevailing savings account rate, with zero commission on turn over.   

Representing Skye Bank, Ayodele Olojede, head, Small Business Group, said that as parts of its contribution towards the development of the real sector of the economy, Skye Bank Plc had introduced a number of products and incentives designed to help Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) grow their businesses through access to finance and effective management of their financial resources.

Olojede said that the bank’s decision to support SMEs is based on the realisation that these small businesses are the major drivers of any economy worldwide.

She also hinted that the Bank will be making a major announcement in that regard soon.

And Femi George, data platform lead, Microsoft Nigeria, added that entrepreneurs ought to foster a culture of business innovation to survive in the present tech-world.

He said, Microsoft recognizes that, “In the digital age, technology has become the great equalizer, giving voice to your customers, partners, and employees and enabling your business to listen and become more responsive to customer needs and opportunities – using the connectedness of the cloud to respond with new business models, expanded channels and improved processes”.

He defined ‘The Microsoft Cloud’ as unique, as the companies that use it.

From a city that streamlines how its people travel through it, to a global outdoor apparel company that connects its teams around the world. See how this cloud has transformed some of the world’s greatest brands, George said urging the participants to leverage the opportunities in the Cloud.

Mr. Emeka Okafor, managing director, Connectnigeria.com, Organisers of the Forum, spoke to Nigeria CommunicationsWeek on the sideline of their decision to host the Forum with over 1000 SMEs in attendance.

He said, “Developing entrepreneurs is a continuous process in the life of a nation. What we hope people got out of the Forum is knowledge that will help them propel their businesses from, maybe, N1,000 to N10,000 daily or from a ten-man business to 100-man business. We looked for the professionals and those that have passed through some rough edges to share their experiences and inspire the young ones; telling them the steps to follow and others to avoid.

“Great countries do not depend on government to grow businesses; individuals do. Bill Gates of this world, and others did things that changed the world. Government may be doing enough in terms of policies, but which country has ever said that government is doing enough? They are individuals who go beyond current trends and break even.

“So, we put the Forum together because of love for the Country. We love this country; it is the only one we have and we want it to grow. We believe that now we are in the digital age, IT moves the world, we have very creative people; surprisingly, God has blessed this nation that close to 80% of the population are youths, therefore, if we are able to make them see potentials in what they do, the nation’s economy will blossom. Imagine where one million young people hired two million people each, we will wipe out unemployment”.

He described various eCommerce platforms introduced in the market as “fantastic; there is nowhere else we can go except up! Gone are the days were like ‘Nigerians are fraudulent, so we cannot do business with them’. They have seen the potentials of eCommerce with the ever growing population, smartphone users, internet growth and other developmental strides.

The fair also featured panel discussions that involved Supermart, Uber, Jovago, among others; exhibitions and networking.