By Alex Olise/
Experts, drawn from various fields of endeavour, recently gathered Nigerians at an event in Lagos to mentor them on how to grow in their business by utilizing currently available facilities in Banks and other financial institution across the country through the acquisition of skills.
The seminar, organised by social entrepreneur, Oluwatobi Odukoya, was held on May 25, at the Elohim Tabernacle International Church, 10B Ibrahim Odofin Street, Idado Estate, Lekki Lagos State with the theme “Building Purpose in Life and Enterprise”.
Also at the event were representatives of Union Bank and Access Bank who used the seminar to showcase their various products aimed at encouraging Nigerians to approach the Banks to get credit facilities with ease to enable them to embark on business aimed at boosting the economy of the country.
Speakers upon speakers took time on the day to share their experiences and tutor those at the event on major steps that could be taken to prosper in business.
One of the speakers, Mr Yinka Fisher, who is currently the Coordinator Small and Medium Enterprises Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) Lagos State said the agency was established to encourage Nigerians to be employers of labour.
According to him, SMEDAN as an agency does not give loan but assist to facilitate such loan through commercial and microfinance banks to help investors embark on business after receiving training.
He said that the agency would give information to investors on how to get raw materials, equipment and ensure government regularization process.
Another speaker, Alex Ade Adefemi (aka ) Triple-A, a business and life coach expert taught the gathering lessons on emotional intelligence described as an indicator of the language of the mind. He urged business owners to love what they are doing to achieve success.
One of the speakers, Mrs Ifedayo Durosinmi Etti, an author and entrepreneur also shared her success story at the event, as well as Olawunmi Ogunde, the co-founder of eco prune Africa
The representatives of the Union Bank, Mr Nicolas Nnadozie, urged Nigerian business owners to ensure accurate bookkeeping of their daily transaction seen as the major problem making it difficult for them to access loans from Banks.
He urged Nigerians to approach Union Bank to get various loan facilities currently available for small and medium scale business.
Access Bank representative, Odutola Ogundipe, said the Bank was focusing on small and medium enterprises (SME) with major emphasis on investing on Nigerian women, as well as men through their various products.
“Access Bank has focused on women. If you impact life in a woman you impact the community. Men are not left out; we still have many products for our men who need loans for business,” she said.
The organizer of the business forum, Oluwatobi Odukoya, thanked those who came for the seminar and advised them to use what they learnt to uplift their businesses.
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