Commerce
The Enugu Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA) has launched an annual business training programme to strengthen entrepreneurship and promote economic growth in the South-East.
The programme, known as Business Entrepreneurship Skill-Service Training (BEST), targets business owners, workers, aspiring entrepreneurs and civil servants.
Speaking at the launch in Enugu on Thursday, ECCIMA President, Mr Nnanyelugo Onyemelukwe, said the initiative was part of efforts to restore the South-East’s former position as a leading commercial and economic centre.
He said the region had previously been a trailblazer in commerce and other economic activities and expressed the desire to return it to that position.
The ECCIMA Director-General, Mr Uchechukwu Mba, described the programme as an opportunity to equip business people and other participants with knowledge of commercial operations.
He said the training would help businesses grow substantially, particularly in the South-East.
In her remarks, Mrs Oby Okeke, Member of Council and Chairperson, Training and Capacity Development, ECCIMA, said the programme was designed to address gaps in business management.
Okeke said it would help entrepreneurs understand how to establish effective structures, develop business systems and engage the right people to drive growth.
“For a business ecosystem to truly thrive, it must come to the place of building a community of businesses that have been well positioned and equipped with the right information, knowledge and fundamentals,” she said.
She said ECCIMA had more than 600 member businesses and had begun creating awareness about the programme before its official launch.
According to her, the chamber also conducted a survey to enable businesses to assess their operations, identify weaknesses and determine areas requiring improvement.
She said the programme would gradually reach more businesses through strategic awareness campaigns and engagement.
Okeke explained that the training fees were designed to sustain the programme while providing access to more businesses.
She described the launch as fulfilling, saying it had provided an opportunity to communicate the vision and importance of the initiative.
In his keynote address, Mr Aniekan Usoroh, Director of Training and Development, Apical Insights Ltd., urged business owners to develop strategies that would enable them to remain competitive amid economic challenges.
He said businesses that failed to adjust their prices and operations to changing economic conditions risked losing significant profits.
“You did not do anything wrong. You just did not grow,” Usoroh said, explaining how inflation could erode business profits.
He cited an inflation rate of 22.3 per cent, saying businesses that failed to adjust their prices strategically could lose up to 80 per cent of their profits within 12 months.
Usoroh also highlighted the South-East Development Commission’s target of growing the region’s economy to $200 billion dollars from its current estimated $40 billion dollars.
He said Enugu State had set a target of building a $30-billion-dollar economy, adding that achieving it would require significant growth from businesses.
According to him, Enugu has about 1.1 million nano and micro businesses, representing one-fifth of the estimated five million businesses across the South-East.
He urged entrepreneurs to distinguish their products and services from those of competitors to attract customers and sustain growth.
“Otherwise, you are lost in the crowd, and then your growth is impeded. Growth becomes almost impossible,” he said.
He also advised business owners to understand their customers, establish credibility, identify their strengths and improve their financial and operational systems.
“Hope is not a strategy,” he said, urging businesses to develop approaches that would generate repeat sales instead of depending on occasional patronage.
He further stressed the importance of building strong business structures, saying, “You cannot rise above your structure.”
The Commissioner for Trade, Investment and Industry, Dr Sam Ogbu-Nwobodo, said the state government had introduced reforms to improve the business environment.
He recalled that the administration’s first executive order required ministries, departments and agencies to develop service-level agreements within 60 days.
He said the government had also introduced a default approval mechanism to reduce delays in business-related processes.
Ogbu-Nwobodo assured ECCIMA of the state government’s support for initiatives aimed at strengthening businesses in the state.
He said, “The state government is always ready and willing and able to continue that concentration.”
The organisers said BEST would run annually from January to December, providing a continuous platform for training and development.
Among those present were Prof Benedette Okoli, Commissioner for Human Capital Development and Poverty Alleviation; Patrick Ubru, Commissioner for Agriculture and Agro-Industrialisation; and Mr Rob Anwatu, Chairman of ECCIMA’s Board of Trustees.
Business owners, entrepreneurs and other stakeholders also attended. (NAN)
