Agency supports business growth in FCT

The Abuja Enterprise Agency (AEA) has evolved strategies to eliminate regulatory bottlenecks that hampers business growth and promoting ethical business practice in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT).
The Acting Managing Director of the agency, Malam Shehu Abdulkadir, disclosed this at the 8th Edition of Business 360, held at the Entrepreneurial Complex of AEA, on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the theme of the 8th Edition of Business 360 is “Leveraging on Technology and Innovation for Enterprise Productivity”.
Abdulkadir said that the theme was apt and borne out of the experience faced by Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) during the COVID-19 pandemic.
He explained that the idea of business 360 was conceived to provide all the relevant business development services such as training, enterprise promotion, market linkage, regulatory clinics, business advisory and other key areas on demand to entrepreneurs who require such services.
He added that it was designed to bring business regulatory bodies, business service providers, business owners and business developers together towards creating a synergy that would be beneficial to the growth of businesses in the FCT.
Abdulkadir said that MSMEs are constrained in terms of resources such as technology, finance, marketing and human resources.
He noted that the ability of MSMEs to compete in the global market depends on their access to these resources and those that have better access to these resources are able to exhibit better innovative and economic performance.
According to him, the 8th edition of business 360 will serve as a platform to actualise one of the agency’s cardinal objectives to promote the adoption of technology by MSME.
He also said that the programme would provide an opportunity for interaction between the private and public sectors.
This, according to him, will no doubt lead to greater synergy and an enabling environment for MSMEs to thrive.
“It is therefore one of the agency’s strategies aimed at eliminating regulatory bottlenecks that hampers business growth and promoting ethical business practice in the FCT.
“A lot of MSMEs experienced contraction in their growth due to restrictions and lock down measures instituted to curb the spread of the virus.
“MSMEs that adopted the use of technology in their business were able to sustain their activities.
“Technology is a driver of growth and would spur MSMEs to compete in a global economy especially in developing countries where they are exposed to intense competition due to the accelerated process of globalisation.” (NAN)