The federal government of Nigeria has been urged to establish quality infrastructures to enable the use of technology for the innovation and growth of small and medium enterprises.
This was disclosed at Junior chamber International’s (JCI) innovative enterprise exhibition and seminar, tagged “The impact of technology on small medium size enterprise in Nigeria, held in Lagos state.
Fintech and digital economy researcher, Mr. Kola Osinowo while speaking at the event highlighted the importance for small businesses to leverage technology to scale their business. He further stated that since technology can be used to facilitate innovation, it is therefore important for all stakeholders, business owners, and the government to embrace and support its growth.
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No doubt, technology has become pivotal to our lives, while also playing a significant role in so many sectors/industries. The world is rapidly evolving with so many technological advancements taking place. Technology has become a major factor in every business, especially start-ups.
It is almost impossible to do business effectively in this century without leveraging technology. Through the advancement of technology and the Internet, with the latest 5G network technology already in existence, small and medium-scale enterprises have greatly contributed to economies.
Technology has no doubt made it easy for SMEs in processing daily business activities and routine tasks. Although, certain technology can only be effective when there are infrastructures established to support it, which is why the government of Nigeria is being tasked to create tech infrastructures so that it can support and boost business growth in the country, especially the small and medium enterprises.
Therefore, there is also a need to ensure that there is the adoption of broadband Internet, for instance, the 5G network, which has been disclosed to be implemented soon in the country. The 5G technology is expected to be significantly faster than previous networks which offers a whole lot of advantages to businesses.
The technology will no doubt allow SMEs to become more efficient by increasing their capability to accomplish more in considerably less time, with fewer resources thereby reducing costs and consequently increasing revenue.
Countries that have already implemented the 5G technology have enabled small businesses a great opportunity to compete with large companies which have seen these SMEs improve in productivity and reduce costs of operation.
A major facilitator of most of these technologies is electricity, and the power supply in Nigeria is abysmally poor. Therefore, there is a strong need for the government of the country to ensure that there is a stable power supply so that these technological infrastructures can be used effectively.
Technology no doubt removes barriers, boundaries, inabilities, and possibilities and creates a level playing field for everybody. It’s time for the government to see the need to establish quality tech infrastructures on the ground to enable the growth of every sector, most especially small and medium scale enterprises.
It is important to note that the economy of a country is built upon the success of small businesses. SMEs are indicators of a country’s economic development. They have a significant impact on the social development of the economy.