Stakeholders in the ICT sector have said that trust is the right ingredient for building an enduring business relationships and partnerships in Nigeria
They made this call at the May edition of CFA’s Startups Hangout held recently in Ikeja, Lagos.
Speaking at the event, Muhammad Rudman, CEO, Internet Exchange Point of Nigeria, said that partnership or collaboration, is the coming together of individuals, families or businesses, with a view to achieving certain results.
“There has to be a reason for collaborating, to achieve a common goal”, he stated.
Rudman illustrated a typical example of collaboration, when he stated that the internet, as we have it today, is a combination of the efforts of experts from Stanford University and university of California in 1969 when they decided to connect to each other just to share resources, which eventually resulted into this global thing we know today as internet.
He noted also that even though most of our network providers are competitors public but privately they are collaborating to ensure that we are able to make phone calls within their different networks.
Ojikutu Adeniyi, President, CAPDAN and CEO of Pacific Network Solutions Limited, while making his remarks said that there is need to build trust when going into partnership business with any partner.
He noted that, challenges will come in any partnerships, but we have to find a way around those challenges.
In his words, “Challenges are constant, but how constantly you solve those challenges, will determine how far the partnership will go”.
He also stated that, for the partnership to work effectively, the partners must be faithful to each other.
Ojikutu emphasized that, before going into a partnership, you need to have a roadmap and know what you will gain from in it and this must be connected to your vision and mission.
Dr. Nkiru Balonwu, Managing Partner, RDF Strategies, said that, the main reason for going into a partnership is that, no one has all the answers to everything; so, you need to partner with those who know about that aspect of the business you want to engage in and collaborate with them.
She decried our penchant of wanting to be the sole CEO or Founder at all cost, when your business can be better managed by going into a partnership.
She added that, for us to go into partnerships we should ensure that our partner have something of value to bring to the table, adding that trust must exist among the partners for it to work effectively.
CFA’s Startups Hangout is a platform where entrepreneurs meet, network, learn and grow. It is designed to help startups succeed.