The second edition of the Doing Business in Nigeria Conference recorded a huge success as attendees were impacted with the knowledge to propel the success of their businesses. The program brings together business experts, entrepreneurs, and nation builders, who share their experiences garnered over the years.
The convener of the conference is Linda Uneze, Managing Partner of Maurice Xandra Solutions, a human resources management consulting company. The theme for this year’s conference held on April 27, 2022, was “The Age of Conscious Resource Utilization.”
The speakers took turns teaching attendees about the factors needed to grow a business in an emerging market. Paul Onwanibe, CEO of Landmark Group, who spoke on the topic, “Business Strategy and Execution in an Emerging Market”, said that being unique as a business owner is very important. He said, “Do what you do so well and uniquely that people can’t resist telling others about you. You can have everything in life you want if you help others get what they want, learn what it takes, understand what is needed, and do what is required.”
The second keynote speaker, Olatomiwa Williams, Country Manager, Microsoft Nigeria and Ghana, spoke on “Embracing Technology for Business Sustainability”. She emphasized how businesses can adopt technology for transformation purposes. She said, “The world of the future looks very different for businesses. The COVID-19 pandemic lessons have been tough. The only thing harder than transformation is failing to transform. Companies are focused on using technologies to improve efficiency but missing the opportunities to transform their businesses.” Also, she noted that the ways to transform a business include engaging customers, empowering employees, optimizing operations, and re-inventing products.
Other factors that can help to promote a business were addressed by Dr Ayo Adegboye, CEO of Arravo. He emphasized the need for businesses to prepare for digital transformation. In his words, “Jobs will be gained and lost depending on how well you prepare for digital transformation. Analyse the cost of doing business, know how the goods can get to the customers, and know how to develop new markets for your business.”
Ugo Obi-Chukwu, Founder and Partner, Nairametrics Financial Advocates, spoke on the importance of businesses partnering with reliable solution providers. She said, “It is important to partner with a reliable solution provider and ensure one tests and validates the security promises that he or she is providing. One can create a website but also look for ways to secure your website with the necessary certificates so that other people do not clone your website.”
In her presentation, Jane Egerton-Idehen Head of Sales, the Middle East and Africa, Meta (Facebook) said that businesses are already evolving and those who refused to join the trend were majorly hit during the COVID-19 pandemic. She said, “When we say businesses should evolve, some people think they are going to lose their businesses to robots and AI. That is not what we are saying. For example, some jobs which require cognitive skills will evolve because they can now be done by AI. An example of a job with routine cognitive skills is a call centre. Because the calls and complaints are routine, one can get a machine to call, adopt, and answer. That is the future of work. It does not mean that everyone is going to lose their job. It just means that the skill that would be required will now evolve. COVID was a wake-up call. In the middle of the lockdown, there are some states where one could not work from home. Even to do video calls was difficult.”
On people who are afraid to start up their businesses, she said, “You can start small, celebrate your wins. Most importantly start, the ship is sailing and if you do not start you will be left behind.”
Olu Akanmu, the President of Opay, supported this by sharing that there are great opportunities for startups in Tech, they have the opportunity to build a new culture, and new technology and utilize resources
The speakers did not leave out any detail as attendees had their knowledge bank filled. Linda Uneze believes in the notion that every business needs constant work to grow. Hence, she established the conference which has affected many businesses positively and energized business persons for greater exploits.
The conference was made possible with support from our sponsors, General Electric Company, VFD Group, Environmental Accord Limited, Unotelos Limited, Interswitch, GB Foods Africa, Nairametrics, Business Day Nigeria, Adzinga Media, Business Insider, and Pulse.
For more information on the conference, kindly send an email to dbnc@mauricexandra.com or call 09049313488. The full version of this year’s conference can be watched here (link).
Slm