Groups Urge SMEs Stakeholders To Collaborate For Growth

Two groups, GIZ-SEDIN and GOPA, have urged stakeholders in micro, small and medium enterprises to partner and collaborate more so that they can grow and develop.

Speakers at the MSMEs development ecosystem seminar titled, ‘Gaining momentum through partnerships’, organised by the groups gave the advice.

 Peik Bruhns, Team leader, GOPA, said that asides from funding, entrepreneurs needed support from other actors for business growth, and collaborations would strengthen the ecosystem.

‘‘The entrepreneur sector deserves more support in all spheres, access to the market, record keeping, technology, and other supports mechanism.

"We are one of the actors, providing support for GIZ.

"Our key message is for us to understand nobody can do it alone.

"We all need each other once we are able to embrace each other, we will now strengthen the ecosystem.’’

Folayemisi Adu, the Executive Director, Hope Builders Foundation, said that the objective of  the event is to provide sustainable platforms for the ecosystem actors to thrive and how their operations would benefit the MSME space in Nigeria.

‘‘The growth and development of MSME into sustainable business depends largely on the business environment they operate in.

"The MSME development ecosystem seeks to achieve this by ensuring relevant actors constantly engage and come up with suitable conditions for ease of doing business.’’

The Head of Component, Economic Education and Entrepreneurship, Oladoyin Olawaiye, added that GIZ-SEDIN provided necessary training for MSMEs actors, saying they needed the links, and opportunity to grow their business and sustain it.

 ‘‘We want them to interact more. Ecosystem actors should work within themselves and interact more to be collaborators for the betterment of the business. ’’

National Senior MSME Development Expert, Ismael Lawal, shared, ‘‘We are here to develop an ecosystem that will proffer solutions to some of the things mentioned like access to finance, market, technology, policies not favoring MSMEs.

"It is a deliberate effort to bring together all the actors to encourage the ecosystem to see opportunities.

"They can’t keep operating in silos, they need to partner. ’’