Etisalat deepens businesses through SME programme

DG/CEO, SMEDAN, Dr. Dikko Umaru Radda; CEO, Etisalat Nigeria, Matthew Willsher; Head, Global Business Operations, YuuZoo Corporation, Mohan Das and Group Managing Director, Diamond Bank Plc, Mr. Uzoma Dozie reliving a moment during the launch of SME Arena by Etisalat Nigeria in partnership with YuuZoo Corporation in Lagos… recently

The need to harness the potentials of small and medium scale enterprises as drivers of national economic growth gets more attention by the day. GREGORY AUSTIN NWAKUNOR, in this report, looks at how the newly launched Etisalat SME Arena will re-tool SMEs in Nigeria to deliver on this expectation.

No doubts, the integration of various state economies with their specific peculiarities into one global economy, overseen by the World Trade Organisation, has brought out new challenges for developing nations like Nigeria.

The protectionist mechanisms that traditionally supported small scale industries (SMEs) have had to fall away, as WTO rules become enforced in developing economies. However, in this period of globalisation of world trade, an increasing role is being assigned to the private sector in many developing countries. In parallel to, and as part of this shift, there has been the emergence of the micro and small-scale enterprise (MSE) sector as a significant component in economic development and employment.