Key Highlights
- Focus on sustainability and business skills: Ms. Oteh emphasized the importance of sustainability and up-to-date business skills for young Nigerian entrepreneurs. She believes that sustainability allows for long-term vision and clarity, and for building businesses that outlast the founders.
- Socioeconomic growth through scaling and collaboration: Ms. Oteh emphasized the need to scale together and collaborate for socio-economic growth in Nigeria. She praised the founder of C4C and highlighted the potential of entrepreneurship to unleash the country’s potential.
- Resilience, investment in health and education, and creating an enabling environment: Ms. Oteh discussed the challenges faced by Nigeria, including unemployment, poverty, and inflation. She urged the new leadership to focus on creating an enabling environment for everyone to thrive, with investment in health and education. She also emphasized the importance of business skills and structures for SMEs, and leaving a legacy through long-term vision and planning.
A former Director General of the Securities and Exchange Commission and Independent Non-Executive Director of Seplat Energy Plc, Ms. Arunma Oteh, stated that young Nigerian entrepreneurs must focus on sustainability and up-to-date Business Skills for their businesses as it allows them to have long-term vision and clarity.
She disclosed this during the Youth Entrepreneurship Programme by Seplat in partnership with Conversation for Change (C4C), which was offered ₦16.5 million in funding in seed money for young entrepreneurs in the event covered by Nairametrics.
Oteh, who is also a former treasurer and Vice President of the World Bank stated that she believes that sustainability is key to transforming Nigeria because a focus on sustainability allows young business leaders to build a business that outlasts them.
Scale and Working together
Ms. Oteh stated that to grow socioeconomically in Nigeria, we must learn to scale together, she noted that she was honored to be at the event, narrating it as a “celebration of entrepreneurs” She added:
- “I am even much, more excited, because I believe in entrepreneurship will unleash the potential of the country, especially young entrepreneurs.
She praised it’s the founder of the Conversation for Change (C4C), Dr. Kechi Ogbuagu, citing her stellar career in the United Nations which enabled her to build the foundation, and also Amina Mohammed ( UN Deputy Chief) who Oteh says is one of the architects behind the SDGs.
Sustainability
Ms. Oteh narrated that if we embrace sustainability, we can transform Nigeria, adding that the starting point always with every nation is facing challenges.
- “ Ours is unique as people we our are most important, there is no excuse for where Nigeria is today.
- “ Give or take, we are spending all our revenue on servicing debt, at a forum, I said to the participants, can you imagine you have not paid for your needs, you are just taking the money to service debt, no household can survive that.”
- “On top of that we have an inflation rate of over 20%, in the UK where I live, when inflation was 10 percent, it was a 40-year high” she added.
Resilience
She added that despite the Nigerian resilience, our leaders are “pushing too far”, adding that we are under-invested in health and education, and no country can have a future without that kind of investment, she added:
- “For unemployment, the official rate is 33% but I feel the real rate is much higher, ( citing that NBS has not released unemployment data in 2 years).
- “The UN human development index ranks us at 164 out of 191, we are enjoying carrying last,
- “133 million Nigerians are in multidimensional poverty,
Ms, Oteh noted that unfortunately, we have Politicians in Nigeria, who want to fuel religious and tribal clashes, through ethnic profiling, narrating the elections, where we noted over N300 billion was spent on INEC, which set high expectations, she warned:
- “When you set them, and things don’t work out as they should, then it’s a problem.
- “In my view, the new leadership has lots of hard work, the covid crisis pales in comparison with the work we have to do to set Nigeria on the right track”
- “I hope, that they would focus on all levels on creating an enabling environment, for everyone to thrive.
- Nigerians don’t want to handouts, they want their leaders to create an enabling environment, if you can’t create that, they want you to step aside.”
Business Skills and Structure
Arunma Oteh added that despite the that fact Nigerian Political leadership has not done enough, they can’t do it all adding that Small and Medium scale enterprises are the backbone of an economy, which would be boosted by Business skills and proper structures of the SME owners, she added:
- “70% of global GDP are SMEs, this means that 70% of unemployment is dependent on SMEs.”
- “Business skills are important, as it’s much easier to gain today, Get skilled, so much you can get online, even if crisis, don’t forget about keeping skills current.
- “ For structure, what would keep business for the future or institutionalizing for the future, young Nigerians must think about their business as when it would be listed on the NGX exchange,
- “That’s the vision you should have, Young entrepreneurs, must think about what structure they must have and will prepare and catapult to that stage, and think about leaving a legacy.
Legacy
Oteh, narrating her Uncle’s business, which she said was a conglomerate in the 1950s with offices in Northern Nigerian and the South East, however, does not trade today, in Nigeria, said:
- “Mindset of leaving a Legacy is a mindset for building for the long term, the mindset of being visionary, but also having structure on planning, on a yearly, quarterly basis, or six months, and you continue to connect with that vision and be bold.
She added that a focus on sustainability allows one to have a long-term vision, adding that she believes also sustainability is key to transforming Nigeria:
- “Because a focus on sustainability allows you to build a business that outlasts you, which should be a comparative advantage for Nigeria because we have Natural resources, we are well endowed, and the answer to their future of the world, but most importantly, sustainability focus on the long term.”
The Director of External Affairs & Sustainability, Seplat Energy, Dr. Chioma Nwachuku, noted that through the Seplat JV/C4C partnership, the company has successfully trained and supported three batches of fellows, comprising about 55 young entrepreneurs, who are thriving, creating value and boosting Nigeria’s economy.
- “Each beneficiary has shown resilience, creativity, and innovation through the duration of the yearly program and has now become our proof that we could truly make Nigeria better by investing in the youth population,” she said.
Very educative.