The managing director, Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN), Tony Okpanachi, has emphasised the need to equip Nigerian entrepreneurs with critical management skills to enable them to build structure required for effective management of their businesses.
Speaking at a recent capacity training for Micro, Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs), Okpanachi said although funding constituted a major challenge to MSMEs in Nigeria, capacity building was critical for young entrepreneurs.
“As a development financial institution established to bridge the financial gap through our participating financial institutions, our strategic focus is providing liquidity, credit guarantee, and capacity building for MSMEs to be more productive,” said Okpanachi.
He noted that the capacity building initiative was an integral part of the bank’s mandate to drive economic growth by empowering MSMEs with the skills required to improve their capacity and productivity.
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“So, our objective is to equip entrepreneurs across sectors of the economy with requisite management skills to develop viable business plans, access funds, and effectively manage their business growth. Through this training, we will enhance their entrepreneurial and managerial competencies,” he said.
The training was held in furtherance of DBN’S mandate of building the capacity of the MSMEs and equipping them with the required skills needed to improve their competence in developing and defending a viable business plan, improve their capacity to access funding, as well as imbibe in them the discipline required for efficient utilisation of funds.
In the wake of the Covid-19 global pandemic, small business owners were lectured on digital marketing strategies and basic promotional tools on accessing business opportunities and improving selling skills as well as presentation skills and development of business plan.
To help these small business owners with book-keeping which is crucial to accessing loans, DBN partnered with financial experts on entrepreneurial finance and accounting; how to develop financial records; financial analysis, and prepare a balance sheet of business activities.
Participants expressed appreciation to DBN especially in the area that touched on online marketing and business profiling, as it has helped to increase confidence and competence on business growth strategy and development.
