Chinenye Anuforo
Nigeria’s digital production and participation will improve drastically if only it embraces and develops small and medium enterprises.
This was highlighted by the Chief Executive Officer, O-Mobile Multimedia Limited, Benjamin Aduli while speaking on the theme, “Roadmap in providing a sustainable solution for Africa SMEs” during a national workshop in Lagos.
Aduli, said the low digital productivity in the country is due to low participation from Nigerians. “Production ensures participation in the economy, when you are producing in the economy, you are participating. We lack productivity and that is why we are not growing the economy. So how can we improve the digital space of the economy? The roadmap to providing a sustainable solution for Africa and most especially Nigeria is to becoming an SME nation where we are actually producing.”
“Access to financial services and development services has always been the issue because our banking system is obsolete and antiquated. But we at O-mobile have plans to setting up 774 merchant centers, 2,322 agents centers and set-up of 10,000 mobile agents to fund 500,000 SMEs.” he said.
According to him, “What we at O-mobile have done and is doing is to develop our own banking system and that is where digital economy comes in because Nigeria is migrating from an analogue economy to a digital economy”
Recall that the company in a bid to deepen the knowledge of digital based services, secured a $10 million (N3.06 billion) grant from So Sue Ben foundation and according to Aduli, applications are already in place to help Africans utilize digital banking technology.
“We are excited about this ground-breaking pact which involves the creation of awareness about digital banking opportunities, educating governments and the general public about digital banking opportunities.”