By Nsan Ndoma-Neji, Calabar
The Nigerian Institute of Management, NIM, at the weekend called on the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, to come up with a policy framework that will facilitate credit access to Nigeria entrepreneurs.
The NIM made the call in a 20-point communique, issued at the end of it’s zonal summit, which took place in Calabar, the Cross River State capital.
The summit, themed: ‘Managing Entrepreneurship Development: A Shift From Service Economy to Production Economy,’ emphasized on the need for accessibility to credit facility.
The communique, signed by the Institute’s Chairman, Prof. Jude Nwoka, FNIM, Secretary Naomi Igbaji, MNIM and Peter Edieya FNIM, stated that a lot of businesses stand the chance to thrive if access to credit were not too cumbersome.
The communique reads in part, “Access to credit and financing, which has remained one of the most insurmountable problems of business in Nigeria, must be made as seamless and as easy as possible.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, and other critical agencies of government must come up with policies that will facilitate access to finance by entrepreneurs.
“SWOT analysis should be carried out on the prevailing challenges in other to arrived at SMART objectives that will aid in moving the country from service to production economy.
“The reality today should be the changing entrepreneurship that is addressing economic crisis tool to redefined model of economic development.
“Entrepreneurship should be creative production as one of the ways to alleviate poverty.
“Therefore, the basis of the 21st Century should be to focus on overcoming the challenges of time, security, trust, revenue generation, competition and transition by government creating an enabling environment.”
In her earlier remarks, the President and Chairman of Council, Nigerian Institute of Management, NIM, Dr. (Mrs) Christiana Atako, FNIM,NPOM, described the theme of the summit as apt for the times we are in where entrepreneurship is a viable option to a country that is presently sliding on all indices of economic development.
Speaking on the importance of shifting to entrepreneurship for both small and medium scale enterprise, given that entrepreneurship now plays a key role in economic development, adding that it has become one of the key goals of development in effort aimed at reducing poverty.
Also, the Chairman, South-South zone of NIM, Professor (Barr) Emmanuel Umana, FNIM, FCIArb, PHF, who spoke on the importance of the event, stated that the summit is to mark the significant milestone in their collective pursuit of excellence in the field of management.
Umana assured participants that the summit will create opportunities to exchange ideas, share experiences and explore innovative strategies to propel “our zone towards a thriving production economy.”
Also speaking, the Chairman of South-South zonal Management Summit and Calabar Branch Chairman, Mr. Eyo Okpo-Ene, FNIM, thanked members for gracing the summit.
Okpo-Ene appealed to members of the Institute and the country at large to encourage production sector through manufacturing so as to take the nation’s economy from the shackles of poverty.
