NBCC, Financial Stakeholders Want Businesses To Leverage Technology

The Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) and financial institution chief executives have charged businesses to leverage technology to improve productivity, thereby, positively and financially impacting the nation’s economy.
They spoke at the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce (NBCC) maiden conference and exhibition with the theme: ‘Fast
Tracking Productivity- Leveraging Technology’ in Lagos this week.The President, NBCC, Mrs Bisi Adeyemi, stressed the imperative of technology in driving productivity. Adeyemi said this was reflective of the current realities, propelled by the COVID-19 pandemic.
She noted that the maiden conference which would be biannual, allowed businesses to showcase their brands and foster new partnerships, saying that these businesses would also develop foreign market opportunities that align with our cardinal objectives.
The chief executive officer, of FirstBank Limited, Dr Adesola Adeduntan, said that technology had entered an era of digitalisation where new technologies were powering and providing an attractive basis for business growth, innovation and differentiation.
Adeduntan represented by the executive director, of treasury and international banking, First Bank, Mr Ini Ebong, noted that increasingly, both large and small businesses were leveraging modern technology to become agile and grow more efficiently.
He added that technology was powering business development in various ways leading to enhanced business growth and profitability.
Adeduntan projected that the rise of frontier technologies promises to further impact and transform the dynamics of business.
Also, the chief executive officer, of Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria, Mr Lamin Manjang, said the opportunities that had come with the adoption of digitalisation in the financial sector were enormous.
He said that, following the adoption of digitalisation, the total retail account base grew by 200 per cent in two years and its revenue base for retail business increased by 300 per cent.

The managing director, Bank of Industry (BoI), Mr Olukayode Pitan, said that the bank would continue to play its role in fast-tracking productivity through its various funding and advisory facilities.

Pitan, represented by the Executive Director, Large Enterprises, Bank of Industry, Mr Simon Aranonu, said that Nigeria, like many countries around the world, was not immune to the economic headwinds presented by the COVID-19 pandemic.

This, he said, made it essential for all non-oil sectors particularly manufacturing to boost productivity, create employment opportunities, and enable Nigeria to be more self-sufficient (less import-dependent).
He described the manufacturing sector as the gateway to industrialisation through substantial forward and backward linkages with other sectors, providing a wealth of opportunities for suppliers, distributors and retailers.
He stressed that with the introduction of the African Continental Free Trade Agreement (AfCFTA), Nigeria must build its manufacturing sector towards it becoming the manufacturing hub for West Africa and the rest of Africa.

Pitan revealed that the BoI had successfully raised about $3.8 billion from the international market in the last four years with some of the meetings and roadshows held virtually leveraging on technology.