Global investors are in the Hague, the Netherlands, to seek innovative start-ups and entrepreneurs that require funding for expansion.
Some of the investors willing to throw money into start-ups are Bank of America; BlackRock, a New York-based investment management corporation; the Carlyle Group, an investment group in the U.S; and SVB. Others are StartUp Delta, a Dutch start-up connector; the Dutch Pension Fund; and KKR, a private equity firm and asset manager.
At least seven chief executives of Nigerian start-ups are participating in the programme, which is easily world’s biggest gathering of creative and innovative entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers.
Some of the Nigerian entrepreneurs participating are the chief executives of Livestock247.com, DrugStoc, Havenshill Synergy, Mother’s Delivery Kit, Snapshield International, Male Integrated Science, and AACE Foods. They are participating in the Global Entrepreneurship Summit that has 2,000 entrepreneurs, investors and policy makers willing to change the way things are for better.
Speaking at the opening reception of the GES in the Hague on Monday, Michael Pompeo, United States secretary of state, said the entrepreneurs would have failed many times before becoming success stories.
“People like you here you are a living proof that innovation is driven by competition and not by government,” he said.
He said government leaders could bring value to entrepreneurs only if they would create the necessary environment for growth.
For Pompeo, government must protect the physical and intellectual properties, saying that property rights were the bedrock of successful economies.
He said entrepreneurs needed the rule of law and the basic predicable environment to unleash their potential.
He added that President Donald Trump slashed taxes to support firms from all over the world to invest in the U.S.
Mark Ruttte, prime minister of the Netherlands, said innovation and sustainability were key to development.
He explained that strong countries were built on entrepreneurship and rule of law, adding that healthy competition and protection of intellectual property would benefit the world more.
The GES’ theme ’ The Future Now’ is focused on critical sectors such as energy, agriculture and food security, health, water and connectivity.
“True entrepreneurship can only flourish in a free and open society, a society built on rule of law,” Pauline Krikke, mayor of the Hague, said.
“A better future is a matter for us all and you are people who are dedicated to do that,” she said, adding that passionate entrepreneurs used their creativity and talents to create a better world.
The chief executive of Nigerian-based Liverstock247.com Ibrahim Maigari Ahmadu told BusinessDay that he was working to give life to the livestock industry in the country.
“We are investing heavily in production of livestock. We give the herders feed, drugs and the market. We ask them to stay where they are and we give them market,” he told BusinessDay.
Chibuzo Opara, co-founder of DrugStoc, said his firm ran a cloud-based, multichannel platform connecting manufacturers of medicines to hospitals and pharmacies.
“We work with providers to bring solutions. We work to eliminate counterfeiting and give credibility to the market,” he said.
ODINAKA ANUDU, Hague, Netherlands
