A group of young entrepreneurs, under the auspices of Hype Communications, have called on governments, corporate organisations and non-governmental agencies to support Nigerian entrepreneurs and programmes that benefit entrepreneurship.
The entrepreneurs also claimed that the Micro, Small and Medium Entreprises (MSME) were the most neglected in the country, with little or no support. He regretted that programmes designed to incubate business ideas and offer growth support to MSMEs, such as The Next Titan Nigeria Reality TV show, were often neglected.
According to them, past winners of shows such as The Next Titan reality TV show, which is currently in its 6th season, have gone on over the years to become employers of labour who are contributing massively to the development of the country’s GDP
Director of Media, Hype Communications, Catherine Agbo, in a statement, pointed out that available statistics from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) showed that Nigeria has over 37 million MSMEs who employ over 54 million skilled and unskilled labour and contribute about 54 per cent of the country’s GDP.
She regretted that unlike in other countries where entrepreneurship and business reality TV shows enjoy a lot of attention and popularity among citizens of such countries who leverage on such shows to develop their mindsets, the reverse is the case in Nigeria where such shows enjoy little attention.
“It is for this reason that even when globally successful educative entrepreneurial shows such as Dragons Den and The Apprentice were brought to Nigeria, they failed to attract the same level of attention,” Agbo said, adding that “entrepreneurs are by nature, job creators, and for every entrepreneur that is supported to grow, there is one person less in the job market who goes on to provide jobs for others. Entrepreneurship plays a critical role in the economic growth and standard of living of the country and should be encouraged.”
