Following the discourse to revamp Nigeria’s economy from the prevailing strains, the new President Bola Tinubu led Federal Government has been urged to harness the potentials of Small Businesses in the Country, to achieve its 6 percent GDP growth rate projection.
The advice is coming on the heels of the efforts of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), to incorporate small businesses into the formal sector with the aid of introduction and adoption of the E-Naira and digital economy.
At a sensitisation programme, held in partnership with the CBN, to incorporate Automobile Technicians into the system, the Chief Executive Officer of Jordan FM Lagos, Lanre Johnson, advising the Federal Government said it is important for the new government to take the E-Naira more seriously, averring that the issues in the Country’s economy are localised and small businesses are the bedrock of the economy and must therefore be taken into consideration considering their share and contribution to the GDP.
He spoke at the sensitisation and adoption programme for the E-Naira wallet organised for the Lagos State Council of the National Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), in collaboration with the CBN in Lagos.
Johnson said there is a need to ensure that Small Businesses are well captured into the E-Naira crusade because the E-Wallet is a game changer for the Nigerian economy.
He said: “Our advice to the new government is for them to take this E-Naira more seriously, and we believe that the issues we have today in Nigeria are community and grassroots-based. So, if we can put a whole lot into the E-wallet and support the digital economy by embracing small businesses, a lot will happen to us as a nation because the bedrock of our economy is the people we have here today.
“Imagine in Lagos alone, they have over 200,000 members. Our appeal to the new government is first, we appreciate a lot of changes that are happening right now, they are taking the right steps in the right direction, but they should focus more on how to take the small businesses away from the informal sector to the formal sector.
“And by the way, regarding the projection of a 6 percent GDP growth rate, if we can harness all of these, a lot of people are saying it is not going to be possible for this government to achieve a 6 percent GDP growth rate yearly, but we are saying it emphatically that if we harness these people, put them together on this digital platform, that projection will be beaten.”
Stressing the need for the general public to embrace the digital currency, Johnson said, “The E-Naira is more like our national asset, we must continue to promote it, and we must continue to sensitise our people.
“China has done its own and they are working on it, Australia is doing theirs, and India is doing theirs. I think close to about 115 countries in the world have started their digital currency with their Central Banks.
“The onus rests on us as an entrepreneurship radio station for us to support the government and to ensure that small businesses are well captured in the E-Naira crusade because we know that the E-Wallet is a game changer.
“And you can attest that with NATA having the strength of about 200,000 members across Lagos, imagine we have these numbers transacting on E-Naira every day, I tell you it will be the game changer we have been waiting. We will continue to push until E-Naira gets to every nook and cranny of the Country.
Chairman of the Lagos State Council of the National Automobile Technicians Association (NATA), Comrade Moruf Egberoungbe said that his members are ready to adopt the E-Naira wallet as a means of transaction in their businesses.
”It is an avenue for the artisans to transact with one another, and it is the safest means of transacting business launched by the Central Bank. Since the launching of the E-Naira, I have advised my members to adopt it,” he said.