ELAN’s National Lease Conference holds Nov. 16

The Equipment Leasing Association of Nigeria (ELAN) has concluded plans to organise the 19th National Lease Conference, as part of efforts to entrench the value proposition of equipment leasing to the national economy.

The conference shall be held on Tuesday, November 16, 2021, both in-person at Sheraton Hotel Lagos and online, to give room for a more robust and bigger platform for lease stakeholders engagement and networking in Nigeria and the international market.

The conference is the highest gathering of stakeholders in the Nigerian leasing industry and a
major platform for the discussion of issues pertinent to the development of leasing in Nigeria and the economy at large. The theme for the conference is: “Emerging from Covid-19 Pandemic: Leasing and the Nigerian Economy”.

This year conference is coming at a time when the Nigerian economy and indeed the global market is making efforts to recover from the covid 19 pandemic and recover all lost grounds.
The theme for this year’s conference could not be more apt given the various policy responses to Covid 19 challenges by all levels of government and corporate organisations.

The conference is therefore designed to promote the efficacy of equipment leasing for the enhancement of our national economic development.
Essentially, it is expected to further entrench the value propositions of equipment leasing to developmental initiatives by various levels of government and organisations, explore the
emerging opportunities for the industry, facilitate business networking and investment.
The Nigerian Leasing industry continued to demonstrate its remarkable contributions to economic development in 2020.
Though considerably affected by the covid 19 pandemics that caused serious health and economic disruptions, the industry remained resilient – recording a marginal growth of 4.3 per cent.
Available statistics show that outstanding leases as of 2020 stood at N2.01trillion as against N1.91trillion in 2019.

The Chairman of the Association, Dr Olutoyin Okeowo, in his comments, stated that “essentially, the attraction of leasing is embedded in its developmental attributes. Leasing is unique as it facilitates easy and convenient access to desired equipment needed for productive purposes, contributing to capital formation in the economy. Leasing reaches out and meets the diverse equipment needs of various categories of customers, be it large corporate organisations or small venture owners, providing them with affordable and quality services tailored to their needs. The overall essence of leasing is to enhance the planning, improvement and development of any economy by building and supporting productive ventures.

He posited that in today’s reality, the developmental attributes of easing can be brought to bear on our national efforts to stimulate the economy and get it out of the woods. Rebuilding the economy
requires enormous capital and the growing cost of assets generally, presents an immense opportunity for leasing as an alternative option. In addition to the pandemic silver lining in health care, ICT, logistics etc that are now seen as emerging opportunities for leasing business, equipment leasing could also
be instrumental to the achievement of the Government’s macroeconomic and fiscal policy objectives. It is essentially appropriate for the 2022-2024 Medium Term Expenditure Framework and Fiscal Strategy aimed at facilitating accelerated economic growth, job creation and preservation, macroeconomic
stability and promoting poverty reduction and equity.

He opined that for Government to achieve the deliverables in its priority areas, massive investment in capital assets is required and with the paucity of funds, this task appears daunting. There
is therefore the need for Government to adopt a proactive and innovative approach to attract the necessary investment. This is where equipment leasing comes in handy.
The Chairman, therefore, called on all relevant stakeholders to be a part of this great event to leverage business networking opportunities, lease value propositions and market dynamics, reiterating that the conference offers a veritable platform to further enhance corporate visibility and get partners more
connected to their target market.

The event is expected to assemble stakeholders from both the organised private sector and government, cutting across various sectors including manufacturing, transportation, mining, healthcare, service sectors etc, with renowned experts both locally and from abroad, discussing relevant topics, that would
further, engender the contributions of leasing to the development of the Nigerian economy, even at these challenging times.