Uche Usim, Abuja
Thriving and budding entrepreneurs across Africa converged on Abuja on Friday for UBA Market Place Africa exhibitions and the annual Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) conference.
The twin-event also attracted chief executives of government agencies, stakeholders in the import and export business, students, businessmen, craftsmen, among others.
Speaking at the event, the Group Chief Executive Officer of United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, Mr Kennedy Uzoka pledged more funding to grow Micro, Medium and Small Enterprises (MSMEs) both in Nigeria and across the continent in line with its vision of developing the continent’s economy.
According to him, the UBA Market Place is an entrepreneurial fair, with exhibitors from 20 African countries, taking place on the sidelines of the Tony Elumelu Foundation Entrepreneurship Forum.
He added that the event provides past TEF beneficiaries and other business owners a golden chance to meet stakeholders in order to take their vocation to the next level.
Uzoka said that the bank had made specific initiatives to make SMEs more viable and better established across Africa.
“We bank a lot of customers across the continent and in doing that, we have discovered that there is a gap in the business value chain.
“That void we discovered is how to bring more buyers and sellers together and that is what we have done today.
“The UBA market place has brought together under one roof, more than 5,000 SMEs from across Africa. We want to create a platform in Africa similar to Alibaba and ebay,” he said.
Uzoka said that Africa’s youth were full of ideas that could change the standard of living and reduce poverty on the continent and that was why the bank was passionate about supporting SMEs.
Also, the UBA Group Head Retail Banking, Mr Jude Anele said that 10 per cent of the bank’s total balance sheet has been earmarked to support SMEs in countries where the bank operates in Africa.