The event commenced with the greeting and acknowledgement of
esteemed guests by the event Compere, Bella Ikeme, CEO of Caizen Business
Development Company. After being treated to a delicious breakfast buffet at the
Lagos Continental hotel, guests enjoyed an insightful keynote presentation
tagged ‘SMEs and their Global Impact: Why SMEs fail’ by Prince Abimbola
Olashore, the President and Chairman of the Council. Association of Investment
Advisors and Portfolio Managers. “As business owners, we need to stop working
in silos and start collaborating amongst ourselves to serve every need
associated with our industries”, he told a rapt audience. He also highlighted
the importance of SMEs to the global economy, the ways in which the Nigerian
SME ecosystem is severely lacking when compared to the rest of the world and
how Nigerian business owners can do better to succeed locally and globally.
The event also featured a panel discussion with speakers who
are business leaders with vast experience within their different industries.
Speakers included Kayode Falasinui, Tosin Ajose, Ayobola Abiola, and Dr.
Omopeju Afanu. The panel was moderated by Olubusayo Adeniyi, CEO of Cedrus
Group Africa.
Videos of the event will be uploaded on the Cedrus Group
Africa social pages and YouTube channel in the coming weeks.
Ideas shared during the day included Tosin Ajose, Founder of
DealHQ Partners, who espoused the importance of systems, processes, and
structures when starting and operating a business. She also pointed out a fatal
flaw in most SME operations: the lack of proper data collation during the early
years of operations.
Dr Omopeju Afanu, the current Managing Director of
Cooperhouse Ltd, spoke on technology being at the heart of SME growth and
‘convenience’ being the product of the future. She also spoke on starting a
business out of one’s passion and skill sets and not due to following current
profitable trends.
Kayode Falasinu, CEO of AVA Capital Group spoke on the
significant risk present in the African SME ecosystem. He explained that the
onus is on SME owners to de-risk their businesses to attract investors by
putting the right processes from the onset.
Sir Ayobola Abiola, founder & CEO of Fullhouse Advisory
Partners spoke about the role of financial advisors in helping a business
through every stage of its life cycle from inception to success. He explained
that advisory firms can help businesses with market research, operations,
governance, or whatever is required beyond financing.
After the panel discussion, the ‘Cedrus 5000 Africa SMEs’
program was officially launched; The program is intended to give over 5000
Sub-Saharan Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) access to specialised
advisory services required for scaling, funding and corporate development.
Selected businesses would have the opportunity to follow a well-structured
business-enhancement process to emerge into globally competitive entities.
“We believe that SMEs will play a key role in the financial
independence of Africa”, said CEO of Cedrus Group Africa, Olubusayo
Adeniyi, when asked about the firm’s
focus on SME financing. “That is why we are so willing to invest in SMEs. We
are investing in our continent’s future.’”
The event concluded with free advisory sessions where the
panel speakers as well as Cedrus Group Africa staff were on hand to assist
guests with the immediate challenges facing their businesses and steps to take
to improve operations and profitability.
Sponsors for this event were AVA Capital Group, Whitegate
Homes, Elvita Bitters, Keystone Bank, and the United Bank of Africa.
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