Abuja- The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry Limited (ABUCCI), says it is promoting trade relations with other chambers of commerce withinand outside Africa to create trade opportunities for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises in Nigeria.
The President of ABUCCI, Mr Tony Ejikonyem, made this known in an interview with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Abuja on Thursday.
Ejikonyem said that in order to create a platform for SMEs to expand their horizons, ABUCCI had entered into partnerships with some of the chambers.
“ One of our visions when we came on board was to foster regional trade within Africa.
“To foster trade is to form alliances with regional chambers of commerce.
“We have signed several MoUs with several chambers of commerce within and outside Africa in order to generate more business for our Nigerian businessmen.
“We’ve formed a lot of strategic alliances with sister chambers within Africa and outside Africa.“
He said that operators of small busineses in the country were not taking advantage of the enormous trade potential available in Africa.
According to him, the lack of relevant information on investment has prevented many traders from exploring the many business opportunities within the region.
Ejikonyem said that ABUCCI was providing training for its members to build their capacity to embark on viable businesses.
The president of ABUCCI added that the chamber was assisting its members to access the N220 billion SMEs fund provided by the Federal Government.
“As you know, government has made available N220 billion to SMEs.
“We have also made ourselves available to those government agencies responsible for the disbursement.
“We are the voice of the private sector; so we are in a position to actually help draw up a better modality for them to access the fund,“ he said.
The president also said that 85 per cent of members of ABUCCI were involved with SMEs. (NAN)