Vice President Yemi Osinbajo, African Union High Representative for the Peace Fund, former president/chairman, African Development Bank, Donald Kaberuka, and former finance minister, Mansur Muhtar, among other dignitaries are scheduled to speak today (Monday) at the maiden edition of the Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) annual lecture series.
While Osinbajo will speak as the special guest of honour, Kaberuka will be delivering the keynote address at the lecture, which will hold at the Congress Hall of the Transcorp Hotel, Abuja, on the theme, Surviving to Thriving: MSMEs as the Key to Unlocking Inclusive Growth in Africa.
Also scheduled to speak as panellists at the event are the renowned professor of economics and former director general, West Africa Institute for Financial and Economic Management, Akpan Hogan Ekpo. Others include, NdidiNwuneli, founder, LEAP Africa; Peter Bamkole, director, Enterprise Development Centre, Pan-Atlantic University; Amal Hassan Founder Outsource Global and Yemisi Iranloye, MD/CEO, Psaltry International.
The lecture series is a thought leadership initiative of DBN, which provides a platform for a robust exchange of ideas to meet the challenges and opportunities that exist in the MSME segment of the economy.
According to the managing director, DBN, Tony Okpanachi, the lecture series is one of the ways to further strengthen the economy by ensuring that MSMEs are adequately empowered to continually contribute effectively to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) of the nation.
In his words, “MSMEs in any clime is the backbone for inclusive economic growth. In advanced economies, small businesses have been seen to be the driving force in achieving growth in all sectors of the economy they operate.”
“The central objective is to broaden the understanding of the challenges and critically examine practical steps to resolve some of the obstacles that constrain growth within the segment,” he said.
