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Nigeria-Britain group seeks entrepreneurial revolution to grow economy

By Michael Ajifowoke
05 May 2017   |   4:08 am
Speaking at the event, the Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) Nigeria, Prof. Pat Utomi said the economic recession should not be seen as a problem, but as an opportunity to develop the country.

Prof. Pat Utomi said the economic recession should not be seen as a problem, but as an opportunity to develop the country.

Economic experts have explained how entrepreneurial ideas could be used to grow the country’s economy. They spoke yesterday at the 2017 annual lecture organised by the Nigeria-Britain Association in Lagos.

The theme of the lecture was “Opportunities in a Recession: The Role of Creative Enterprise.” Speaking at the event, the Founder, Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) Nigeria, Prof. Pat Utomi said the economic recession should not be seen as a problem, but as an opportunity to develop the country.

According to him, the reason the nation is facing recession is its dependence on a mono-cultural economy, where just 11 per cent of the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) is funding almost the entire fiscal regime.

Utomi spoke on: “The Opportunities Embedded in Nigeria’s Present Tough Economic Circumstances. The Keys to Thriving During Periods of Economic Recession.”

The experts identified high inflation, increase in unemployment, and decrease in sales of goods as due to the people’s low disposable income, increase in crime rate and budget deficit in government spending, as part of the challenges.

He said: “The oil sector hires only about 10,000 people, which does not make it qualify as the sector to fully rely on, because it does not generate much employment for the citizens.”

Utomi explained that there must be increase in output, payment of taxes and government’s readiness to be accountable for lapses, if the country must get out of recession.

He stressed that entrepreneurs were facing challenges due to the weak financial institutions in the country unlike the developed countries. He said: “A nation cannot be built by producing managers to run multinational organisations, but by creating entrepreneurs.

Also speaking, the General Manager, Enterprise Development Centre (EDC), Wale Anifowoshe said: “If one must become an entrepreneur, he must be able to create value, because the entrepreneurship process is all about value-creation.”

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