Connect Nigeria Business Fair, arguably Africa’s biggest SME Event, an annual show since 2011 in Nigeria, is set to hold on 6th and 7th March, 2020 at the Tafawa Balewa Square, Lagos.
Themed ‘2020 Vision’ and organised by Connect Nigeria, Nigeria’s information portal for SME, the fair is intended to provide a roadmap for business owners, with focus on panel sessions, pitch sessions, master classes, exhibition, networking and other array of activities aimed at growth enhancements, especially for small and medium scale enterprises.
According to the CEO, Connect Nigeria, Mr Emeka Okafor, the business fair will avail participants opportunities of exploring the many business prospects available while entrepreneurs can also learn the skills they need to grow their businesses in today’s tech-driven world.
“At Connect Nigeria, we are passionate about Nigerian enterprises succeeding through empowerment and collaboration. We believe that by empowering small and medium scale enterprises, millions of jobs can be created, the per capita income and export earnings can increase, and the capacity utilization in key industries can be unlocked, while economic expansion can be greatly enhanced”, he said.
He added that this necessary action would go a long way in solving the problems created by Nigeria’s increasing population and the inability to engage the growing youth population, especially to drive the United Nation’s sustainable development goals.
Okafor further said that over the years, Connect Nigeria had actively sought to amplify the best of the SME segments in Nigeria through campaigns like its Top 100 Emerging SMEs, which held its first edition in 2018 and through her annual Business Fair, the organization advocates for the building of strong business networks and the laying down of processes that ensure the success of ventures.
The business fair which is expected to be host to over 2,000 participants, would be in three segments- the Master Classes, the Pitch and the Exhibition.
The Master Classes will give entrepreneurs the opportunity to engage attending business leaders and role models while having their questions answered in a classroom setting, and learning from real success stories.
The Pitch will give five participants five minutes each to present a sustainable, technology-driven business idea. The winner will get on-the-spot funding.
The Exhibition will have over 400 exhibitors and thousands of visitors over the course of two days during which a wide range of services and products will be represented, some of which include Fashion & Beauty, Real Estate, ICT Solution Providers, FinTech, Food & Beverages, Literature & the Arts and others.
Connect Nigeria maintains its pride of place and further strengthens the necessity of the continuity of the annual business fair by reference to major strides at its 2017 edition during which Ajibola Odukoya, CEO of Gidicartel; an online e-commerce platform was able to secure a million-dollar investment from a New York based investment firm, while Tolulope Oginni, CEO of Transfurd Limited was featured in Forbes 30 under 30 in 2019.
