Start making money now, panelists tell UNILORITES
A former Private Sector Development Officer at the African Development Bank, Dr Emmanuel Akinwunmi, has said that the best foundations for a successful entrepreneur are found in African homes where children assist their parents in running their micro businesses along with household chores.
Dr Akinwunmi stated this last Monday(January 22, 2024)while responding to questions posed by the immediate past Director of the Technical and Entrepreneurship Centre (TEC), University of Ilorin, Prof P. O. Adeoye, who moderated a discussion by a distinguished panel of African entrepreneurs, scholars and policy makers at the week-long Entrepreneurship Summit organised by TEC.
The Summit, themed “Youth in Entrepreneurship: The Pillar of Growthand Developmentin Africa” was organised by the University of Ilorin TEC and the Africa Support Bureau for Entrepreneurship(ASBE)at the University of Ilorin Multipurpose Hall.
Dr Akinwunmi called on the Nigerian Government to be more serious about entrepreneurship as he advised that they should learn from the Canadian government, which supported him in his first business by paying 50 percent of his personnel cost and also assigned a mentor to him in Canada.
He also cautioned young people against relocating to the Western world permanently, saying that permanent relocation is definitive brain drain.
In her contribution to the discussion, a Ghana based Zimbabwean educationist, Dr Violet Makuku, declared that the bright future of African entrepreneurship is evident in the positive attitude of UNILORIN students who voluntarily and enthusiastically participated at the summit.
She also noted that members of the younger generation should be encouraged to invest in Agriculture to improve security on the continent, noting that there is a lot of money to be made from the Sector.
On her part, Dr Janet Faremi, who is an Ambassador of the Economic Community of the West African States Youth Council, encouraged the participants to cultivate the habit of volunteering and attending seminars and workshops, adding that a good strategy for success lies in presenting oneself as a humble market woman and a novice in a business to experienced and established businessmen and women so that they would open up on the street wisdom attached to specific businesses.
Also speaking, Mr Lanre Sanni of Lassod Consulting, United Kingdom, called for a well structured mentorship component, which could be digital for young entrepreneurs in African Universities as he advised students of the University to make a case for this through their student union and representatives.
Mrs Victoria Madedor, who heads Business Development at the Bank of Industry’s Trust and Investment Company, on her part, advised students entrepreneurs to know their market and identify areas in which they can have competitive advantage such as practising soilless farming, looking for markets on the continent and registering business names and not limited companies to reduce their tax burden.
While making her points, Dr Sherifat Adesunkanmi of the Deparrment of Management and Accounting, Obafemi Awolowo University, Ile-Ife, posited that there is a business side to all the courses taught in the University and the participating students need to identify how to make money from it.
She noted that a student of education may from being a lesson teacher grow to become a University owner, adding that even Aliko Dangote was not such a big brand when he. started.
Also contributing, Dr Wasiu Tejidini, who heads the Kwara Social Investment Programme (KWASIP), listed the activities of the Kwara State Government towards empowering entrepreneurs and said the benefits are for all residents of Kwara State regardless of their area of origin as available in developed societies.
Earlier, the Director of TEC, Prof. Usman Adebimpe Raheem, in his welcome address, said that entrepreneurship is important in the University and he appreciated the panelists for coming to share their wealth of knowledge with the students.