By Emma Okonji
The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Nigeria’s foremost Bilateral Chamber that promotes trade relations between Nigeria and the United Kingdom, has reiterated its commitment to developing the small and medium enterprises in Nigeria, as part of activities marking its 40th anniversary a bilateral chamber.
Announcing the activities for the anniversary celebration at a press conference in Lagos recently, its President, Adedapo Adelegan said the chamber will be launching the NBCC-DCSL MSME Centre at DCSL Corporate Services Limited a partnership between the Chamber and DCSL taking into cognizance the pivotal role that small businesses play in modern economies especially in areas of job creation and contribution to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP).
He said the SME centre will be used for the training of and incubation of young entrepreneurs who have ideas that are commercially viable and sustainable.
Aside the SME centre, the NBCC also plans to hold anniversary lecture as well as Photo/Arts exhibition coming up on the 9th of March, which would also include a documentary of milestones covered in the past 40 years.
“The NBCC Golf Tournament scheduled to hold in April; the Gala Dinner and Dance/ Patrons’ Investiture in June; visits to selected states, as well as the trade mission to the UK, focusing on the maritime sector, mining and mineral resources sector, finance and investment, are all part of the activities marking the 40th anniversary of NBCC,” Adelegan said.
According to him, the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce over the couple of months has made fantastic stride in the area of Policy Dialogue, Advocacy, Networking and Business Referrals even with the country’s current economic state with the aim of garnering business sustainability in different sector of the economy.
“I can attest to the fact that as we stepped up activities and events and we were privileged to have enjoyed an impressive involvement of members one way or the other with the attendance and active participation in events organised by the Chamber and making suggestions for improvement. During this year under my review I was privileged to lead a delegation on a Trade Mission to the UK last year. The Mission was focused on infrastructure and Real Estate, which featured a ‘2-day Opportunity Nigeria Event’, which hosted the Hon. Minister for Transport, Rotimi Ameachi and the launch of the Nigerian Infrastructure Fund, a $2 billion fund offering investors’ unparallel potential returns and being managed by Pecora Capital,” Adelegan said.
Patron, NBCC, Akin Akintunde, reiterated the resolve of the chamber to boost SME training in Nigeria, stressing that the centre will be used as a platform for SME growth in Nigeria. He said SMEs are important factor of GDP growth in any society if the right support is given to them.
According to Adelegan, the chamber has created sector groups within its members, which include Construction and Real Estate, Professional Services, Creative, Media and Entertainment as well as Oil and Gas.
To ensure continuous engagement with members at various levels, the chamber has undertaken a number of courtesy visits to member companies and high net worth individuals, and several breakfast meetings held with specific intent to touch different sectors of the economy some of them include the Nigerian Logistic Sector, the Insurance Sector, the Manufacturing Sector, the Technology Sector, the Mining sector, and the Infrastructure Sector, among others.
