Post by Trade facilitator on Feb 17, 2012 9:29:14 GMT 1
As a guide for Smalll and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in the country, the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) has released modalities for building SMEs export competencies in the country. This was disclosed by the Executive Director of NEPC, David Adelugba, in a workshop organised in conjunction with Lagos State Ministry of Commerce and Industry and the United States Department of Commer-cial Services at the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
The workshop was designed for Nigerian SMEs interested in exporting their products abroad, to glean useful lessons from cutting edge knowledge, skills and strategies demon-strated by successful SMEs in other parts of the world. Adelugba noted that SMEs accounted for about 90 per cent of the total employment in agricultural and indus-trial sectors of the economy and lamented that in spite of the huge contributions of the sector to the Nigerian economy, SMEs which engaged in export related activities were still less than 10 per cent. “United States of America has witnessed the growth of SMEs from micro to mega business-es because of the ado-ption of effective strate-gies amid threatening business challen-ges and economic failures.
So, cooperation among Nigerian SMEs and their foreign counterparts is important.” He stated that the NEPC, in its determina-tion towards building capacity in SMEs in the country, had adopted skills development and knowledge sharing, exhibition of experience and inculcation of best practices, as well as taking very seriously, the campaign of promo-ting made in Nigeria goods. Also speaking at the event, Anayo Agu, senior commercial specialist, Embassy of the United States of America, in his paper identified poor record keeping as one of the greatest challenges facing SMEs in Nigeria.
“Nigerian SMEs do not keep proper records for their transactions; hence it becomes difficult to access their performance over the years.” “The inability to access these SMEs is related to records and data incapacitation which makes it more difficult for them to acquire the necessary and needed support from their foreign counterparts, since data plays a significant role in determining the viability of a business. This means that there is no documentation about the business and the implication is that the death of the owner of the business marks the end of it.” Agu said that the success story of an SME is not the SME itself but the person behind it.
“Most business entrepreneurs have problem of distrust because they do not build a system that can function without them, that is why they often crash out of business. Research has found out that even those SMEs that are over 20 years old do not have records to secure loans from the government; this means that there is no business.” He explained that the foundation or plan of a business from the beginning determines its success and advised participants who do not have capacity to partner with experts that can provide the money or the technology while they remain the managing director.
“There is no way you can secure loans from the bank if they are not sure that their money would come out at the end of the day. A good accounting and marketing system is necessary,” he said. He told the participants that there is always a gestation period for every business, which business owners should consider and plan with. “A very good knowledge of the international market has to be acquired and export processes should be well studied to avoid failure.
This is because the government is ready to sponsor any SME that meets up with the standard as required in an ideal business environment,” he stressed.
Source: www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/industry/35841-nepc-trains-smes-on-exporting
The workshop was designed for Nigerian SMEs interested in exporting their products abroad, to glean useful lessons from cutting edge knowledge, skills and strategies demon-strated by successful SMEs in other parts of the world. Adelugba noted that SMEs accounted for about 90 per cent of the total employment in agricultural and indus-trial sectors of the economy and lamented that in spite of the huge contributions of the sector to the Nigerian economy, SMEs which engaged in export related activities were still less than 10 per cent. “United States of America has witnessed the growth of SMEs from micro to mega business-es because of the ado-ption of effective strate-gies amid threatening business challen-ges and economic failures.
So, cooperation among Nigerian SMEs and their foreign counterparts is important.” He stated that the NEPC, in its determina-tion towards building capacity in SMEs in the country, had adopted skills development and knowledge sharing, exhibition of experience and inculcation of best practices, as well as taking very seriously, the campaign of promo-ting made in Nigeria goods. Also speaking at the event, Anayo Agu, senior commercial specialist, Embassy of the United States of America, in his paper identified poor record keeping as one of the greatest challenges facing SMEs in Nigeria.
“Nigerian SMEs do not keep proper records for their transactions; hence it becomes difficult to access their performance over the years.” “The inability to access these SMEs is related to records and data incapacitation which makes it more difficult for them to acquire the necessary and needed support from their foreign counterparts, since data plays a significant role in determining the viability of a business. This means that there is no documentation about the business and the implication is that the death of the owner of the business marks the end of it.” Agu said that the success story of an SME is not the SME itself but the person behind it.
“Most business entrepreneurs have problem of distrust because they do not build a system that can function without them, that is why they often crash out of business. Research has found out that even those SMEs that are over 20 years old do not have records to secure loans from the government; this means that there is no business.” He explained that the foundation or plan of a business from the beginning determines its success and advised participants who do not have capacity to partner with experts that can provide the money or the technology while they remain the managing director.
“There is no way you can secure loans from the bank if they are not sure that their money would come out at the end of the day. A good accounting and marketing system is necessary,” he said. He told the participants that there is always a gestation period for every business, which business owners should consider and plan with. “A very good knowledge of the international market has to be acquired and export processes should be well studied to avoid failure.
This is because the government is ready to sponsor any SME that meets up with the standard as required in an ideal business environment,” he stressed.
Source: www.tribune.com.ng/index.php/industry/35841-nepc-trains-smes-on-exporting
