United Bank for Africa Plc has said it is ready to support the Japanese government in its drive to promote Small and Medium Scale Enterprises across Africa.
The Chairman, UBA Group, Mr Tony Elumelu, said this on Monday, when the members of the Japan External Trade Organisation, led by its Chief Executive Officer, Mr Hiroyuki Ishige, were hosted at a cocktail at the UBA House, in Lagos, Nigeria.
Elumelu, who welcomed the guests, noted that the deliberations had earlier begun in Davos, Switzerland, and that like UBA, JETRO shared the passion for transforming lives and helping to build businesses and trade across the world.
He said, “When global leaders visit a country, they bring global attention. These investors who came from Davos have seen Nigeria as a business destination and have come to the country for the first time to visit us and see how things work here. The fact is that we all share the same passion to help transform lives and businesses around the world.”
“We are aware of the various investments you have made recently to develop Africa and African businesses and this is what we also stand for at UBA, developing enterprises across the African continent. We believe that this visit will mark significant milestones and progress as we work towards empowering the youths and small and medium scale businesses.”
Ishige explained that JETRO, through its domestic and overseas networks, supported small and medium enterprises, adding that the organisation “cooperates with relevant organisations, local governments, among others, to provide services that match the needs of the company.
“As a company, the Japan Trade Organisation fully utilises domestic and overseas networks consisting of about 50 domestic bases, promotes investment, agriculture, forestry and fishery products.
“We will actively and efficiently work on exporting food products and on supporting overseas expansion of small and medium-sized enterprises, and contribute to Japanese corporate activities as well as trade policies through surveys and research,” Ishige said.
