BY NKIRUKA NNOROM

The Managing Director of Connect Nigeria, Mr.  Emeka Okafor, he said that the company is targeting over one million Small and Medium Enterprises(SMEs) in Nigeria to help them with their development goals.

This is even as the company has disclosed that it’s annual Connect Nigeria Business Fair will hold on March 6 and 7,  2020 at the Tafawa Balewa Square (TBS), Lagos.

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In a statement signed by the MD,  he said Connect Nigeria, the nation’s information portal for SMEs, mission to empower Nigerian businesses and foster collaboration among young enterprising people and help them make sustainable impact led to the creation of the Fair.

He posited that Connect Nigeria, through the annual Business Fair, advocates building strong business networks and laying down processes that serve to ensure the success of individual enterprises, adding that the company is leading the way in driving partnerships for the United Nation’s Sustainable Development Goals (Goal 17).

He stated that this year’s edition would mark the eighth edition of the Fair and provides a roadmap for business owners.

“SMEs have the potential to create millions of jobs, improve per capita income and export earnings, enhance capacity utilization in key industries and unlock economic expansion and GDP growth. Therefore, it is imperative that the SME sector is developed,”he said.

According to him,  the onus lies on SMEs, the real engine of growth that make up 96 percent of Nigerian businesses, employ 84 percent of the working population and contribute 40 percent of the national Gross Domestic Product, GDP,  to grow the Nigerian economy.

He noted that 150 exhibitors attended the 2019 edition of the Fair, adding that this year’s edition would be bigger and better.

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He also stated that the event has grown from just 500 to over 7,000 attendees  since 2011 when it started,  making it, by far, Africa’s biggest SME event.

The exhibition will host four hundred brands from various industries that would have the opportunity of showcasing their products and services to thousands of attendees.

Vanguard