Emeka Okereke, director-general of Enugu Chamber of Commerce Industry Mines and Agriculture (ECCIMA), in this interview with REGIS ANUKWUOJI, advises the Federal Government to use the Trader-moni more wisely to increase productivity and create more employment opportunities. Excerpts:
As a manager of SME operators, do you think the best option in solving the economic challenges of this country is by sharing N10, 000 to selected petty traders, which the Federal Government calls social empowerment programme?
Well, if you are talking about business and SME development and the stipends that are given out to micro business operators, we call them micro operators, small traders, for me it is social empowerment programme but it is a one time off thing, I do not think it will create meaningful impact in their business development because it is just like an envelope you dished out to somebody for certain intended social satisfaction. Well, N10,000 can really start a business but I wonder how far it can go with the rate of our inflation and the capacity of our naira, so for me it’s just an intermediate effort by the government to encourage micro traders certify certain level of their desires, It would not make much impact in terms of expanding their business or starting a reasonable business, because it is a one time off empowerment thing. Relating it to what Americans call social security, there is more of stable thing as far as you are alive you are entitled to certain amount of money, annually or monthly for your upkeep. It is not actually for them to use that and start up a business or do any kind of trading with it. It is just for upkeep. But if it is a one time off thing, it does not really make much meaning as far as I am concerned. It is just giving somebody a stipend for the person to satisfy immediate desires that may not be sustainable, so it is not a bad thing on its own. But if it is meant to encourage the business of micro-enterprise as claimed I don’t know how far that one could go, you know N 10, 000 one time off thing, but if government had carefully studied the society and get data of certain level of people at the micro business level and wants to empower them say on a monthly basis this is your stipend to encourage you to do one thing or the other it will be more understandable but if it is just a onetime thing where one just go to the market and start dishing out money to selected group of small traders. To me, it has no meaning, and cannot encourage anybody.
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What do you think government should have done in alternative?
Yes, in alternative, assuming government earmarked the sum of one billion naira and said they are going to do empowerment for the masses (people), as I said that kind of empowerment, I don’t know how to define it, but I believe it is just an effort of Federal Government to show concern to her citizens, but for it to be brought into business and for it to yield fruit, I think government should have done better in terms of encouraging an aggregate of the people who can hardly add value to the economy in terms of productivity, thereby expanding the scope of employment opportunities. I think that would have been more meaningful. In my own estimation, engaging some stakeholders, using their business associations, for instance, association ‘A’ we are empowering ten of your members with ten million naira to increase their capacity of doing business where each of them are given one million naira. I feel that by the end of the day, it will encourage more employment and it will expand the capacity of such small businesses, industries, than just dishing out N10,000 to those who look at it as pocket money; that will just satisfy one or two immediate needs and is not recorded. Anyway, I don’t know how the government gathers its data, going to the market to do that, I feel it would have been better if they can aggregate certain number of businesses and see what they are doing and give them a meaningful amount of money that impact in their businesses and engage more hands (employments) and of course, productions will go up.
The people of South East are known for doing well in business. How can you assess the business environment of Southeast region?
There is no two ways about it, it is a naked truth that the South East economic environment is very challenging and of course, it is also the truth that small scale businesses are thriving in the South East despite the not-so-comfortable business environment. If the business environment is better than what it is, you can imagine the level of economic activities that would have been going on in the zone more than what it is presently. The business environment is very challenging. Where do you start, if you take off basic infrastructure, we are still battling with bad roads, it is shameful and it is a kind of disincentive for any business that is not ready to have its foot in the South East, but if you are determined that S/E is a viable economic environment that has future, then you may not mind to invest. Honestly speaking, if an investor comes in as it is and a new investor for that matter, certainly such an investor will be somehow discouraged. There are lots of things, apart from roads, talk of conveyance system in terms of transportation, apart from roads, talk of seaports, and talk of the cargo airport. It is very challenging for businesses to reach their potentials here, if you want to import your raw materials, you have to go basically through Lagos. You have to transport it to the South east by road and you know it will add to the cost of doing businesses. Compared to those zones where facilities are available. At Onitsha inland port I am happy that the managing Director of Nigerian Water Ways once said that Nigeria is losing a lot of income, a lot of business investment opportunities because the Onitsha inland port is still dysfunctional and I know several efforts have been made in the past by the government, to bring it upstream, Unfortunately, we learnt that dredging the seaport is a major problem, because the more sand are removed it revolves around, but we do believe that something can still be done, if they actually mean to dredge the Onitsha seaport and make it functional. I am happy the Managing Director (MD) of Nigerian Inland Waterways said this himself that Nigeria is losing a lot by not making Onitsha Inland Seaport functional.
So these are part of the challenges the businesses in these part of the country are facing, and if these obstacles are addressed , I am sure that the economic expansion that would follow suit will be very large in terms of adding to our GDP, in terms of creating more opportunity for employment, in terms of even starting up businesses in the South East. Business environment is very challenging but I am happy that the South east Governor’s Forum are working through what they call Ease of Doing Business in the South East to address some of these challenges within their capacity because there are some of these issues the states cannot address because they are exclusively in the Federal Government’s directive and responsibilities.
But the thing is that the present South East Governors are aware of the challenges and they are doing their best to take those ones within their immediate confine and responsibility, while also liaising with the Federal Authorities to address critically some of these issues like the Onitsha Inland Port, Akanu-Ibiam International Airport, that is yet to reach about 35 percent of its full potentials because of the level of facilities, because of the alleged conduct of how the Federal agencies and officials in the airport are handling issues concerning the airport, So, these are parts of the discouragement people in this part of the country in businesses are facing and it will be important that government look into these matters and address them properly. It is all about Nigeria, it is not just about South East, because S/E will add to National aggregate, not just within the confines and corridors of the South East. The growth of the South East economy is a growth of Nigerian economy and it’s imperative that Federal Government address critically the infrastructural structure that are facing this part of the country in terms of hindrance to economic growth and development.
Do you not think it would be faster and better to develop the zone (S/E) economically by the businessmen in the zone pulling resources together to establish mega business than the one man-effort activities?
Dangote, I think, is still the principal driver of Dangote’s group of industries, may be systematically he has repositioned his operational approach to go beyond him, so there is really nothing wrong if a business man who knows his onions, want to go solo 100%, there is nothing wrong about that, however how have you structured your management, have you been able to engage the hands of professionals that can help you run the business beyond yourself, how do you see it, are you ready to welcome innovations, are you ready to engage professionals who know it better than you in certain areas you are blessed, you have the capital to invest but when it comes to professional management, you also need to engage people that will help you in running the business to achieve its full potential, and I think that is where Dangote got cutting edge, if you go to Dangote today, it is run by well qualified professionals, who report to the CEO in the day through defined structure and lineup. So there is really nothing wrong, but I think part of the problem in this part of the country is that we want to own the running of businesses, because there are two different things we need, to begin building confidence that others can help us achieve our potentials, do more than we had expected, and visionalise To answer your question, there is nothing bad for business men in this part pulling their resources together for a common investment interest .But I also do know that the issue of trust, and confidence amongst us have been our major problem, that most joint venture businesses or partnerships had cracks and from that experience most people are scared of going that way, either way, we must have levels of trust on people. We cannot do it alone, we should structure our business, in a way that even when we are not there, the business can run. You can still own 90% or 100% of the business, but do not assume that because you are the sole investor, that you will also be the sole driver and professional that will run the business. You must clearly spell out your strategy, your structure and your approach in running such business. The issue of trust and confidence is equally there. Having said that, I know most people who are very conscious not to trust the owning of their businesses with some other people also coming from experience. However that should not limit your scope and vision, we can never do it alone, we can never do it alone, we must work with people, they are very critical and necessary without them you cannot get close to your target; you must work with people but it is important you also do diligent and even as we engage people to work with, we can equally make them part of the system, if it is 2%,even if it is 1%, it will make them to be committed to know that if this business goes down ,their interest also goes down. So I agree with you, the way you structured the question, why can’t we pull our resources together to increase the scope and capacity of our business. I started with Dangote and I said that Dangote is still the major owner of companies, but he has engaged professionals, who know their onions, who are helping him to meet the demands and even expand beyond the original vision he had, so why can’t we replicate it here. So by and large partnership joint venture businesses are important in pulling resources together, for the bigger picture is also important, but in all this, we must structure, we must strategisxe, we must have an open mind of how we want to run this business through co-operation, through goodwill, for the good of the majority of all the stake-holders and interest that has to do with that business, and that interest includes those you are going to provide services for or sell your products to. It is also a challenge to entrepreneurs especially at this level that finance generation is very challenging, to start a business. We can say let us pull our resources together and start a mega business.
Normally, Enugu chamber used to organise Christmas Fair, but this year it did not hold, why?
Well, that is a very good question. To answer your question straight, we are repackaging, restrategising to see how we can make it much better, than what it used to be. Our movement to our permanent site also contributed; so we are repackaging.
Regis Anukwuoji
