The Group Managing Director of Skye Bank, Mr. Tokunbo Abiru, has encouraged Nigerians to patronise made-in-Nigeria goods as one of the ways to reflate the economy and save the nation from the present recession.
He made this statement while delivering a paper at the Made-in-Nigeria Summit titled: “Empowering the Made in Nigeria (MAIN) Economy: Fostering Innovation and Leveraging Entrepreneurship” which holds from September 26 to October 1, 2016 at Eko Atlantic City,Victoria Island in Lagos.
According to the Skye Bank boss, “this will help to boost local production, create more employment thereby prevent capital flight, which will eventually lead to the export of goods made in Nigeria to other countries and earn foreign exchange”.
He explained further: “When we patronize locally made goods, we are invariably contributing to enhanced operations of local manufacturers and entrepreneurs; create more jobs; improve quality of products and ultimately stimulate local consumption that impact the local economy.
“When the local SMEs are empowered through enhanced patronage of products and services, it enables such players to meet their obligations to the larger society – through payment of taxes, sourcing raw materials, contributing to the growth of linkages and providing job opportunities for skilled and unskilled labour,” the Skye Bank boss said.
He noted that in a bid to support its customers in exploring the opportunities of the e-commerce age, Skye Bank currently has an e-commerce portal called Yes Mall. He explained that the portal provides free business enrolment platform for entrepreneurs to showcase their products to an online community which they ordinarily would not have reached.
He concluded that the testimonials from beneficiaries of the platform a has been encouraging as the bank provides immense online shopping experience covering products and services.
Other dignitaries present at the event were: Mr. Babatunde Fashola, Minister of Works, Power and Housing, Ndidi Nwuneli, Director Sahel Capital, Prince Dapo Adelegan, President of the Nigerian/British Chamber of Commerce, Mr. Tonye Cole, Executive Vice Chairman, Sahara Energy amongst other panelists.
