Nigerian-British Chamber Assures On  Support For MSMEs

The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) has restated its commitment to continuously support and boost Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
Making this known  at a recent Advocacy Press Conference in Lagos, the Vice-President of the Chamber and Chairman of its Trade and Investment Committee, Mr. Akin Osuntoki, said support for MSMEs was paramount fo the organisation.
According to him, “The press conference is a way of giving the public a half-year briefing of the activities of the NBCC.
“The vision of the NBCC is to be the foremost channel of trade and commerce between Nigeria and Britain.
“We want to facilitate trade and investment between these two nations. Everything that we do is around that core objective. The mission is to continually encourage and promote mutually beneficial trade relations with Nigeria.
“Every serious economy rests on the MSMEs. We have realised the roles that MSMEs play in an economy, that is why we focus so much on the subsector.
“Our focus on MSMEs is a continuous one. We want to help Nigerian MSMEs grow into corporate and large companies.
“We proceeded to pursue opportunities to add value to members. The only way we can retain membership and grow membership is to ensure that we add value to businesses.
On her part, Chairman, NBCC Advocacy Committee, Ms Anne Rinu, said the advocacy bid of the Chamber was aimed at protecting the business interests of members.
She added that liaising with the relevant government institutions and agencies to formulate favourable policies and ease of doing business for members was a major objective of the chamber’s advocacy efforts.
“The objective of the advocacy arm of the Chamber is two-fold: identifying policies that affect our members’ interests, and also functioning as the voice of the members.
“We work to shape policy proposals in favour of MSMEs, commerce and to positively influence legislation relevant to our members by hosting events with policy experts, Heads of Government Agencies and other Stakeholders.
“We, however, call for reduction of bureaucratic bottlenecks at the export agencies, digitalisation of export services and sensitisation of the export community on due export processes.
“Advocacy being one of the Chamber’s cardinal goals, we will continue to offer advice, inputs and partnership on strategies that can facilitate the realization of economic development and growth,” Rinu said.
NBCC, which was established in 1977,  has remained the foremost bi-lateral Chamber of Commerce in Nigeria.
It has focused on fostering goodwill and increasing trade and investment opportunities between Nigeria and Britain.