As part of the United States’ effort to create wealth and employment through entrepreneurship in Nigeria, the New York Chamber of Commerce has agreed to organise an exchange programme for entrepreneurs under the auspices of Ogun State Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (OGUNCCIMA) on small and medium-scale enterprises and international partnership.
The proposed exchange programme, according to the representative of New York Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria, Lade Adeyemi, president of ‘The Africa meets USA SMEs Forum,’ would cover business intelligence, negotiation prowess, innovation and creativity, leadership and business, and international partnership, and will be held between October and December in Nigeria and United States of America.
Speaking in Abeokuta during a courtesy visit to Ogun State government and OGUNCCIMA on Wednesday, Lade Adeyemi disclosed that the group chose Ogun State and OGUNCCIMA as first beneficiaries of the programme in Africa having seen abundant economic potentials of the state, saying the mission was to add value, intellectually, to harness the opportunities.
Adeyemi, who said the US has special interest in the state in terms of job creation for the youths and unemployed professionals in the country through its abundant economic opportunities, said the group would be working with body of professionals in the US to ensure that the state was put on the world map as investors’ destination of choice in Africa.
He said: “I think Ogun State government and OGUNCCIMA are in the right direction, but we should also be ready to go into partnership with other international SMEs, businesses; the world is a global village and shrinking, business opportunities are emerging and Ogun State has got abundance of that. It’s one thing to have economic potentials in abundance, it’s another to be equipped intellectually to be able to utilise and harness the opportunities.
“And see this tripod; I call it tripod, because it involves Ministry of Commerce, OGUNCCIMA and of course, our organisation in the US, and with tripod mentality, I strongly believe that we can do a lot not just for the state or country, but also to better the life of the youth and unemployed professionals in the country and of course, in the state.”
Responding, Bimbo Ashiru, commissioner for commerce and industry, who received the US delegation and OGUNCCIMA on behalf of the state government, commended the group for designing such initiative on entrepreneurship and international business partnership, saying the government was already partnering New York Chamber of Commerce and OGUNCCIMA to achieve such a lofty business idea.
“I am happy that the New York Chamber of Commerce came in today and they are meeting with us and OGUNCCIMA in order to partner with them, they (US Group) are doing a lot of things with OGUNCCIMA come October; they are going to have mission together in Nigeria and in December, they are inviting them (OGUNCCIMA) over there.
“So, everything just works out in the way it should be and I am happy that OGUNCCIMA is going to partner with New York Chamber of Commerce and other chambers of commerce in America; the Delaware, New Jersey, Washington, Pennsylvania, all of them, that is very good for them. We are going to support OGUNCCIMA as we have always been supporting them.”
Earlier, Toyin Taiwo, newly-elected president of OGUNCCIMA, hinted that the Chamber was ready to key into bilateral relations with the US in the area of small and medium-scale enterprises (SMEs) and international business partnership, but identified agriculture, mining and tourism as the key business areas, adding: “Particularly, we are saying agriculture, mining and tourism that will bring big businesses all over the world to Ogun State.”
RAZAQ AYINLA
