The African Management Services Company (AMSCO) said there are great opportunities to boost private sector contributions to the growth agenda of the country through enterprise development.
The opportunities, according to AMSCO, can be tapped into with a new focus on youth entrepreneurship, increased interventions that promote gender empowerment, and directly developing Small and Medium Enterprieses (SMEs) with specific skills.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of AMSCO, Paul Malherbe, who made the observation at the conference it organised in collaboration with the National Planning Commission, in Lagos, noted that there was need to sensitize the Nigerian private sector about developing management capacity, expertise, as well as issues undermining assessed potentials.
“Most African SMEs are faced with growth challenges because there is assessed dependency on large companies or cooperates to educate them. Our business landscape can only improve if we don’t wait, but rather place our lens on collaborations to develop human capital at SME level, matching the right skills to the right jobs, training the management of those businesses and helping them access financial capital to reinvent themselves. This is our core focus at AMSCO”, said Malherbe.
He noted that Nigerian businesses, particularly Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), require the capacity to engage at global levels.
According to him, often, challenges such as access to finance, shortage of skills, market access and a general enabling environment hinder their development and global attractiveness.
The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria, Godwin Emefiele, at the forum, underscored the crucial role that Nigerian enterprises play in the growth and sustenance of the economy.
He called on various stakeholders to take an active role in raising the capacity of the private sector, adding: “Promoting increased foreign direct investment and other capital inflows through policies that will attract foreign investors and strengthening the DFIs to promote affordable and long-term finance is required.”
Also, the Executive Secretary of NPC, Bassey Akpanyung, emphasised that Nigeria is not unmindful of challenges in the business environment, as the rate of economic growth and development of any nation is functionally related to its infrastructure.
“This informed the decision of Government to bring on board the 30 year National Master Plan in collaboration with the private sector aimed at addressing these gaps” he said.
AMSCO is a private sector development organisation that provides integrated human capital development solutions to private and public businesses across sub-Saharan Africa.
It has over 26 years, evolved to become the leading advisory solutions provider; working to address the issue of market systems and capacity failures through management and skills development.
AMSCO implements the African Training and Management Services (ATMS) Project of the United Nations
