“Promoting the Growth of Small and Medium-sized Local Businesses”! Connectnigeria.com Hosts e-Business Fair in Lagos

Connectnigeria.com, played host to thousands of visitors at the Eko Hotel and Suites in Lagos on Saturday 26th October 2013 at its annual business fair, which was themed “e-Business and the Growth of Your Enterprise.”

Present at the event were representatives from different financial, technological and governmental institutions such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC, First Bank, Microsoft, Diamond Bank Plc, Google Nigeria, Etranzact, and Pro Works. The conference provided a forum for the representatives of these organisations to respond to some of the questions from members of the public on burning issues regarding the use of electronic systems in business transaction, money transfer, and internet connectivity.

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the CBN, was represented at the event by Olusuyi Adaramewa, Deputy Director of CBN, who presented the keynote address titled “Importance of A Cashless Society to Economic Growth & Development in Nigeria”. The Governor of the Apex bank used the opportunity at the event to explain to members of the public the rationale behind the cashless policy of the institution.

He noted specifically that the cashless policy is not aimed at making the naira extinct; rather, the purpose is to reduce the carriage of large amounts of cash, theft, and the cost of printing naira notes. In addition to that, he explained that the cashless policy facilitates trade across distant regions through the use of Internet networks.

Activities at the event included an interactive forum, exhibitions by different companies, special offers and discounts and raffle draw where a printer, a navigation system, a portable Sony PlayStation and a grand prize of an Apple iPad were given out.

Chief host of the event, Emeka Okafor, noted that the goal of the event is to engender economic growth through Small and Medium-sized businesses (SMEs). “The great economies in the world are developed largely through the efforts of small businesses – the ones that employ two, three or even twenty to sixty employees. The multiplier effect on families and the economy is huge and as such it is important that the SME sector should be given specific attention. This is one of the reasons why we set up ConnectNigeria.com – to promote the growth of small and medium-sized local businesses by bridging the gap between them and their target customers, and also by creating platforms such as this business fair so that they can learn new trends and partner with blue chip companies, other SMES and government agencies.”

 

To see more pictures of the event, click here: http://connectnigeria.com/bizfair/photos

To sign up for 2014 edition, visit this link: http://connectnigeria.com/bizfair/
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