Mr Olukayode Pitan, Managing Director, Bank of Industry (BOI), has identified lack of guarantors as a major hindrance to accessing loans for startups by young entrepreneurs.
Pitan made the disclosure at a virtual/physical First Community Engagement Development Discussion organised by the Arthur Mbanefo Digital Research Centre (AMDRC) of the University of Lagos.
The theme was: “Building the Nigerian Economy of the Immediate Future: The Role of Innovation, Entrepreneurship and Startups Creation”.
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According to him, BOI is always ready to welcome and encourage genuine business innovations but there are procedures to follow.
He said the procedures would always be adhered to in order to keep the bank afloat and give needed support to all who genuinely desired it.
“Some persons may be saying that securing loans from banks for startups are usually frustrating and that it may end up killing small businesses but this is not entirely so.
“For instance, in the case of BOI, we normally request for guarantors to access loans but most times, as lofty as the dream of these starters are, they find it difficult to provide any.
“This boils down to lack of trust, as most people, who would have loved to assist, are not sure who they truly are.
“Therefore, we must strive to work on our character and make honesty our watchword. Character is very key; protect it,” he urged.
Prof. Sunday Adebisi, Director, Entrepreneurship and Skills Development Centre, University of Lagos, said that Nigeria’s economy would get a boost with increased incubation hubs.
He said with such a development, youths could come together, challenge themselves to think out of the box, believe in themselves and create job opportunities.
According to the Professor of Strategic Management and Entrepreneurship, the way out of youth unemployment remains innovation and entrepreneurship.
“This is to say we must begin to look at how the youth could begin to look inwards, create businesses, bring ideas into such businesses and build those ideas.
“This is because it is those ideas that will become big tomorrow and become big companies. Our country’s economy today only needs new ways of thinking and doing things.
“Youth should take up that challenge by looking in the direction of innovation, grow hubs and get the necessary support as well as support every other person to latch into that area.
“With that, we can convert these innovations to entrepreneurship, create startups from there and ensure we take it up from there to create jobs for the entire country and even Africa as a whole,” he advised.
Dr Taiwo Ipaye, Director, AMDRC, said that the theme of the discussion was borne out of a desire to contribute to the current narrative on the future of the country’s economy.
She said that through the programme, the centre hoped to stimulate both staff and students of the institution to be innovative, as well as create business models out of existing challenges, and ultimately establish them to become employers of labour.
“You will agree with me that we have a rich array of facilitators from within and outside and we hope that the participants will leverage on the opportunities available at the BOI to become empowered as the next generation of leaders.
“They will also make themselves entrepreneurs with appropriate skills and attitudes to create and succeed in their own businesses,” the one-time registrar of the university said.
She said that the university’s management looked forward to partnering with organisations to realise the objectives.
The Director, Office of Research and Innovation of the university, Prof. Bola Oboh, said that research remained a key activator in the innovation process.
(NAN)
