Business
Eradiri Emerges AAASME’s President
The All Africa Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (AAASME) has elected a Nigerian-born and former Director-General of the Bayelsa State Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency, Dr. Ebiekure Jasper Eradiri, as its President.
The election, as contained in a statement made available to the newsmen, said Eradiri was unanimously elected for meritoriously serving the AAASME for 6 years as Secretary General, then two and half months as Interim Administrator.
According to the Statement, a 13-member Executive Committee was also put in place to work with the President in achieving the Objectives and Mandates set out by the AAASME Constitution.
Eradiri in his acceptance speech pledged to discharge the assignment with the Fear of God and to the benefit of Africa’s 100 million SME ecosystem.
He further thanked the past Executive and the entire AAASME family for the high confidence reposed in him and assured them that he will not betray their trust.
He said his leadership would be guided by what he called the “four cardinal C’s”, namely “Cooperation, Collaboration, Coordination, and Communication”, which he regards as the pillars of his administration .
He reiterated his desire to broaden the work with partners, Alliances and Friends of Africa to deepen engagements for a Continental SME Revolution to birth economic prosperity as enshrined in AU Agenda 2063 #TheAfricaWeWant.
Meanwhile, the World SME Day would be celebrated on June 27 with AAASME hosting on the Margins the Africa SME Roundtable, with a side event at Abuja, Nigeria, from June 28 to 29, 2024.
The President of AAASME also used the opportunity to Congratulate, The Africa Development Bank for 60 years of Service on the Continent, the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) for its 60 Anniversary, as well as International Trade Center for its 60 yrs Anniversary and the African Union over the adoption and ratification of Continental Definition for SMEs which has been an advocacy item of AAASME for the past 6 yrs.
Before his election, Dr. Eradiri had served in various capacities which include: Pioneer Secretary-General of AAASME, Director-General of the Bayelsa State Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency; Senior Special Assistant to Governor of Bayelsa State of Nigeria on Small and Medium Enterprises Development (2012-2020); Member of the World Association for Small and Medium Enterprises (WASME); Board member of BDIC Organic Polymers Ltd and Bayelsa Enterprise Hubs Management Limited; and Technical Advisor to Bayelsa State Government on Economic Development and Liaison (2022-2024).
Other positions previously held include Global Chief Enterprise Officer, SureAid Africa Holdings Consortium with over a decade of experience in the SME development space as an entrepreneur and consultant, amongst other boards of organisations in Africa and around the globe.
Lilian Peters