By Emma Elebeke

Nigerian companies can compete on the global stage if they standardize their processes and ensure quality assurance measures, President/COO of Superflux International Limited, Lagos Mr. Tokunbo Talabi has said.

Talabi, winner of the 2008 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship said this while delivering a paper in Lagos during the launch of the 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship. According to him, business people need to network outside their spheres of business interests and interact with right minds outside Nigerian shores.

“Winning the 2008 Africa Awards Entrepreneurship awards changed my outlook about business. It opened the South Africa market for us,” said Talabi, whose company, Superflux International is one of the three secure printing companies licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria to print secured documents such as bank cheques, tellers, etc, said.

Head of Corporate Communications, Legatum, a private international investment group and organisers of the African Awards, Mr. Hamish Banks, said a research conducted by the Legatum Institute which publishes the annual Global Prosperity Index, a brand new report on Sub-Saharan Africa said that entrepreneurship are “enablers of growth who break down economic barriers and social constraints,” and that “entrepreneurship and access to opportunity are by far the most highly correlated indicators of a nations overall prosperity.

He said the 2011 Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship which carries total prize money of $350,000 US dollars is open to all entrepreneurs in Africa.

Mr. Banks listed the goals of the award to include: “to inspire a new generation of innovators and business people to own their destinies through entrepreneurship; highlight the important role that business plays in development and to encourage the flow of private capital by showcasing Africa as a continent of opportunity; to support and educate policymakers of the benefits of creating a policy environment that encourages the establishment and growth of entrepreneurial business.”

Giving last year’s report, Mr. Banks said 2,704 entries were received from 15 countries adding that 991 came from Nigeria. He urged Nigerian companies to participate in this year’s award to share in the $350,000 US dollars prize.