Nigeria’s First e-Business Fair Attracts Thousands of Visitors

Connectnigeria.com hosted over two thousand visitors at the Eko Expo Center, Eko Hotel and Suites on Saturday 26th October 2013 to its annual business fair, which was themed “e-Business and the Growth of Your Enterprise.”

There was a business fair and exhibition as well as a forum for guest speakers drawn from the banking and Information and Communications Technology sectors.

Present at the event were representatives from different financial institutions and software giants and start ups such as the Central Bank of Nigeria, Microsoft, Diamond Bank Plc, Google Nigeria, Etranzact, and Pro Works. The conference provided a forum for the representatives of these organisations to respond to some of the questions from members of the public on burning issues regarding the use of electronic systems in business transaction, money transfer, and internet connectivity.

Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi, Governor of the CBN, was represented at the event by Mr. Olusuyi Adaramewa, Deputy Director of CBN, who presented the keynote address “Importance of A Cashless Society to Economic Growth & Development in Nigeria.” The Governor of the Apex bank used the opportunity at the event to explain to members of the public the rationale behind the cashless policy of the institution. 

He noted specifically that the cashless policy is not aimed at making the naira extinct; rather, the purpose is to reduce the carriage of large amounts of cash, theft, and the cost of printing naira notes. In addition to that, he explained that the cashless policy facilitates trade across distant regions through the use of Internet networks.

Activities at the event include exhibitions by different companies, special offers, and raffle draw that saw participants winning various prizes including an Apple iPad, HP printers, navigation systems, a Portable Sony Playstation and many more.

Convener of the event, Mr. Emeka Okafor, noted that the goal of the event is to engender economic growth of the national economy through Small and Medium-sized businesses (SMES). “The great economies in the world are developed largely through the efforts of small businesses – the ones that employ two, three or even twenty to sixty employees. 

The multiplier effect on families is exponential and as such it is important that this industry should be given specific attention. 

This is one of the reasons why we set up Connect Nigeria– to promote the growth of small and medium-sized local businesses by bridging the gap between them and their target customers, and also by creating platforms such as this business fair so that they can learn new trends and partner with industry leaders, multinationals and government agencies.”