By Prince Okafor

Esorae Luxury is set  to empower over 300 Small and Medium Enterprises, especially operators in the non-oil sector, with skills to enhance their operations and contribute significantly to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product in the next three years.

The Founder and Chief Executive Officer, CEO, Esorae Luxury, Mr. Ewaen Sorae, said that, there are a lot of opportunities for young Nigerian entrepreneurs, most especially in technology, financial services, professional services, retail, manufacturing and agriculture sector, which are very attractive.

Esorae said: “The business also has a social face. It has the objective of skilling 300 tailors over the next three years, providing a career opportunity for young Nigerians who may hitherto have been unemployed.

“The E’sorae Tailors Apprenticeship Scheme is the business’ flagship social intervention initiative, which makes sense, given Nigeria’s precarious youth unemployment rate, which some analysts put at about 25 percent.

“Our raw material sourcing, product development, packaging and delivery is a process that undergoes continuous improvement. We owe it to our customers and ourselves to improve our processes, as it delivers a more efficient business that will benefit customers and other business stakeholders.”

Sorae lamented that the nation’s retail infrastructure is comparatively underdeveloped, given the size of the economy and its relatively large population. In addition he stated, “This is sometimes a challenge for such businesses as they have to compete with thousands of fragmented and very small retailers in open markets and lock-up stores.

“This adds competitive pressure, as a huger percentage of the retailers compete on cost leadership, a strategy that does not necessarily create long-term value. If the country’s market is properly segmented, it will allow customers to reward brands that are associated with good quality.

He noted that an understanding of this reality will help brands focus on product quality and building independent retail infrastructure to channel these products. he noted.

“We clearly understand our market and will focus on it. We have built our own retail infrastructure, through our current flagship retail outlet in Victoria Island, Lagos, our franchise experience centre in Abuja, and our digital sales channels, which is a fast growing retail channel.