Experts in various fields of businesses in Rivers State and the Niger Delta region have urged business owners in the region to take advantage of networking and digital marketing to grow their businesses.
Making the call recently at the 4th business linkages forum in Port Harcourt, organised by Wider Perspectives Ltd. in collaboration with the Port Harcourt Chamber of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (PHACCIMA), representative of different businesses harped on the need for networking and digital marketing.
The experts, drawn from digital online businesses, captains of industries such as Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), National Food and Drug Administration and Control (NAFDAC), Standard Organisation of Nigeria (SON), Bank of Industry (BOI), Nigeria Export and Import Bank (NEXIM), Foundation of Partnership Initiatives in Niger Delta (PIND), and Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), Rivers State, spoke on the benefits accruable from linking businesses to global value chains through networking and digital marketing.
They told participants how to grow their businesses to global value chains that will enable them export the benefits therein, by sharing their various experiences.
Through such explanations participants were information of the nitty-gritty of their field of business specialization, which ranged from digital/online services to marketing export processing, and mentoring.
Speaking at the occasion, President of PHCCIMA, Chief Nabil Saleh, said the gathering “demonstrated a strong desire by PCCIMA to build bridges across the business community”.
Chief Saleh, who was represented at the occasion by the Chairman, Professionals and Consulates Trade Group, Mr. Clement Atunibo, said irrespective of how small a business is, the desire is to see it grow and ensure that business thrives.
According to him, “presently, there are millions of micro business enterprises in Nigeria contributing almost half of the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP) to the tune of 47.8% and 7.2% in terms of export, which underscores their importance to the nation’s economy”.
In her address, the Managing Director of Wider Perspectives, Mrs. Edughom Hanson, said the idea to organize business linkages was informed by the need to promote SME development by connecting them to large business buyers, thereby facilitating business.
“The objective of the forum”, she said, “include access to finance, wealth and job creation, market linkages, export opportunities, and networking through interactions.
“We are glad to state that an appreciable success has been recorded by some of the SMEs that participated in the first, second and third editions.
“Through linkage with large and established enterprises, emerging entrepreneurs and small businesses have a great chance of growth.

Beauty David-West