Small and medium scale businesses have boosted economy
By CLEMENT ADEYI
Thursday, May 8 , 2008

Contrary to common belief, complaints and flak against the Nigerian economy described as relatively poor, due to abject poverty, unemployment, the lack of infrastructure, poor living conditions in the land, an entrepreneur has enthused that the nation’s economy is beginning to witness fortunes than ever before and would in few years to come rank one of the best not only on the African continent but also across the globe.

Ask him how, and the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Safam Tina Ventures Nigeria Ltd, Lagos, would tell you that medium and small scale businesses have been contributing a great deal to the nation’s economy through manufacturing, importation and wide-spread distribution of goods and services to consumers as well as provision of job opportunities to job seekers, thereby solving a bit of unemployment problem in the country.
Samson Afam Ibekwe noted that with entrepreneurial activities which are spreading everywhere lately, so many people have become wealth creators and distributors which, to some extent, has also tackled the problem of poverty in the land.

He cited Safam Tina Ventures, a major distributor of Dangote cement and sugar, as an enterprise that has not only transformed his life as a successful business man, but has also served as a means of livelihood to a good number of people doing business with him as well as those on the employ of the company.

He, however, urged the government to actualise its plans to improve the energy sector to enable small and medium businesses triumph in their strive to remain key players in the economy.
Background
My name is Samson Ibekwe. I am the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Safam Tina Ventures Nigeria Ltd, Lagos.
We are a key distributor of Dangote cement and sugar. We also deal in generator spare parts.
I trained as a spare parts dealer in Nnewi from 1985-1989 and started dealing in motorcycle spare parts in 1990.

Later, I travelled to Japan in 1991 where I lived for four years working with Toyota. But I was not feeling fulfilled because I had business running in my veins. So, I decided to veer into business enterprise. First of all, I started importing goods from Taiwan and China to Nigeria and I was making good money from the business. But later I started Safam Tina Ventures Nigeria Ltd in 2003 and joined Dangote Group as a major distributor due to complications involved in importation, especially the incessant seizure of containers at Wharf.

Doing business with Dangote Group
It is great to do business with a conglomerate such as Dangote Group because there are so many prospects involved. I have been in business with them since six years ago as a cement and sugar distributor.

My company has become one of the integral distributors in Dangote Group. Since six years ago, we have been recording successes in our business endeavours. The business has been very smooth.
You don’t have anything to regret because you can always make profit from whatever you invest into the business. That is why we are excited to continue the business and ensure adequate distribution of cement and sugar to make it easily accessible to consumers.

Extent of distribution
Safam Tina has a very strong distribution capacity and wide horizon. We are not based in Lagos alone but extend to other states of the federation. In fact, we have branches in all the main states in Nigeria. We have customers across the federation. We distribute to Abuja, the north and eastern part of Nigeria. We also have sub-distributors who come to buy the goods on wholesale basis. Safam Tina gets supply directly from Dangote while the sub-distributors take the supply from Wharf and also sell on retail basis to the final consumers.
Moreso, we distribute the goods to corporate organisations like Julius Berger, Nigerite, contractors among others. We also distribute sugar to companies that are into beverages, juice, biscuits, soft drinks etc.

We make distribution very easy and smooth for the distributors by availing them of the opportunity to use our company trucks to deliver the goods to the required destinations through haulage. This is for security purpose. They are not harassed by police or Customs because they operate under our company’s brand name.
It also saves them transportation problems.

Challenges
When we started initially, we were faced with so many challenges which we later overcame with experience. For instance, some dubious customers used to deliver our goods to different destinations but diverted the money realised from sales. We lost huge sums of money and a lot of goods, including the vehicles. Since then, we decided to use our company vehicles to deliver goods to our customers.
In any case, we are still facing some problems. First, some of our customers sometimes lose some goods in the process of distribution and suffer heavy loss. Under such circumstances, they find it difficult to pay for the goods supplied them.

Another problem is credit purchase. Some customers buy goods on credit, but don’t pay promptly. This made the business difficult for us. Consequently, we stopped supplying them on credit. Some of them even failed to come back and pay for the goods. Since we stopped credit purchase, the business has become very smooth for us.

Scarcity of goods
There is no problem of scarcity of goods at all because Dangote Group is very formidable that they ensure adequate manufacturing and importation of the commodities they manufacture. They have enough goods to supply the distributors every moment, except when there is clearing problem at Wharf.
Dangote has a very colossal factory in Obajana where they produce adequate quantities of cement. They also import it to complement the capacity of local production in Nigeria. Scarcity can only occur if there is importation hiccup on the high sea which may delay arrival of goods in the country. Such problems, only last for a few days.

Gains and profits
I can say that there are appreciable gains and profits in the business. If I am not making gains, I don’t think I can be in the business today. Dangote has made life meaningful to us, including every other business man directly or indirectly involved with Dangote Group.
The Managing Director, Aliko Dangote, has made so many people, including me to be great men today in Nigeria.

Safam Tina as an employer of labour
Apart from the distributors who have also got a means of livelihood through the business, Safam Tina has also been a source of employment to job seekers. We have made life meaningful to so many of them. In other words, we are indirectly contributing our quota to the growth of the Nigerian economy.
Place of medium and small scale businesses in Nigerian economy.
Medium and small scale businesses are very crucial to the growth and advancement of every economy. Through them, so many have become wealth creators and distributors. So many entrepreneurs have excelled in life. I can say that most of Nigerian business magnates are wealthier than civil servants and salary earners. They have increased the economic profile of the nation.

People who ventured into business with wisdom, even with little start-off money, have succeeded. That is why I pity graduates who are roaming the streets in search of job to no avail. I advise them to look for money no matter how small and try their hands on business.
Business is a very interesting thing. So many people who started small are big shots today. For instance, Aliko Dangote is one of the richest men in the world today. People should aspire to be like him. He has contributed a great deal to the well-being of the nation’s economy.

What government should do to improve business in Nigeria
Government should give priority to the energy and transport sectors. Efforts should be made to improve power supply. To achieve this, I want to suggest that government should revert to NEPA from this so-called PHCN which has disappointed the populace with its failed promises to improve electricity supply.
With regular power supply, businesses can be run smoothly and medium and small scale businesses can triumph as a key player in the nation’s economy.

Also, transportation should be improved through good road network through which goods can be conveyed to the appropriate quarters across the country.
Moreso, the price of fuel should be stabilised and subsidised to ease transportation problem.
Taxes such as Value Added Tax and Customs duties should be reduced to help businessmen advance in their business concerns.
This is because if the VAT and duties charged on goods and commodities are too high, businesses are likely to be run at a loss.