The biggest hindrance to the growth of Small and Medium businesses in Nigeria is funding. Most Nigerian businesses struggle to stand the test of time because of the paucity of funds that threatens their lifespan.
A Chinese expert, who is aware of this setback, has advised the Nigeria business community to lay hold of the $60 billion Prosper Africa Initiative and other Global Africa funding for African projects and business ventures.
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The Details: The expert, Chief Diana Chen, who serves as the Vice-Chairman, China-Africa Business Council, made this call at a Global Capital Strategy Session 2019, at the Nigerian Stock Exchange.
She told participants at the conference that the time to realise funding and actualise investments for growing businesses is now.
“This would only take Nigerians to trigger development in the country and not the outside world,” she said.
Chen, who also doubles as the Chairman, Choice International Group, advised the Nigerian business community to unite under a single umbrella and recreate strategies that would not only help them attract money but use the money wisely. She noted that money had to be utilised efficiently to transform peoples’ lives.
The organizers of the Global Capital Strategy Session 2019, Nikky Okoye Organisation said the session was aimed at helping the business community devise technicalities of accessing funding.
What you should know: Last year, Chinese President XI Jinping, in Kenya, announced $60 billion funding over the next three years at the Forum on China-Africa Cooperation (FOCAL).
The money was offered with no political strings attached. It is to be utilised in new development financing even though Beijing has been criticized over its debt-heavy projects abroad. Xi offered the funding at the start of a two-day China-Africa summit and proposed that the money should be spent over the next three years.
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FOCAL is the equivalent of TICAD designed to accelerate China’s engagement with Africa, regarding financial support.
