Dike Onwuamaeze and Oluchi Chibuzor
The President of the Nigeria British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC), Mrs. Bisi Adeyemi, has stated that the chamber would utilize its resources to groom and empower younger Nigerians to emerge as the next generation of business and enterprise leaders.
Adeyemi made this commitment recently during her inauguration ceremony as the 17th President of NBCC, where she said that the chamber would deploy the “NBCC Next Generation Leaders Programme” and the “Programming Academy and Incubator for Young Women” to achieve the objective of grooming the younger generation for leadership role in business.
She said: “We have an army of successful young men and women all over the world leading successful enterprise and creating value. We have our own fair share here in Nigeria: young men and women attracting investment and making a difference. We have to do our bit to equip them with the skills required to thrive and stay the course,” Adeyemi said.
She added that one of the tools the chamber would use to empower youths and female entrepreneurs would be ICT, which she noted has emerged as one of the fastest growing sectors of the Nigerian economy. “At the peak of the COVID-19 pandemic, the sector contributed 15 per cent of the country’s GDP, second only to agriculture. However, as with many sectors, the female gender is grossly underrepresented. Minding and bridging that gap is very close to my heart, hence the initiative to set up a Programming Academy and Incubator for young women,” she said.
Adeyemi also urged Nigerians “to register to vote and vote in the 2023 elections as we can only achieve the change we desire by participating actively in the process of electing those who will lead us.”
The Chairman of Citibank Nigeria, Dr. Yemi Cardoso, who was the Chairman of the Day during the inauguration ceremony, also harped on the need for businesses to embrace corporate governance.
Cardoso said: “Corporate governance determines how the objectives of businesses “are set and achieved. How it is monitored and accessed. Strong and effective corporate governance help to cultivate a conscious culture of integrity that leads to high performance and sustainable business.”
The Senior Partner of TLCom Capital, Dr. Omobola Johnson, who was the guest speaker during the inauguration ceremony, urged the Nigerian public and private sectors to embrace digital technology as a tool for spreading prosperity and promoting corporate governance.
