Lagos, Nigeria; May 22, 2012: In its commitment to enhance the growth and development of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country, Etisalat Nigeria in partnership with the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan African University with support from the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) are organizing a one-day networking session for SMEs. The event tagged Market Access Nigeria with theme “Facilitating market access to small and growing businesses” is billed for the 31st of May at the Ladi Kwali Conference Centre, Sheraton Hotel, Abuja.

The event will serve as a viable platform for key discussions that will address the needs of SMEs in Nigeria while also proffering innovative solutions that will further encourage the growth of young business enterprises in the country. This follows the recently launched Etisalat Easy Business; a pre-paid package specially designed to support SMEs in the country.

The Chief Commercial Officer, Etisalat Nigeria, Mr. Wael Ammar said that this partnership further strengthens the company’s commitment to facilitate programmes that will provide SMEs the necessary support to enhance their competitiveness. This will be achieved by running workshops that will provide SMEs with business consultation services, face-to-face networking opportunities and subject-specific business advisory services; and the overall strategy being to encourage the development of small and medium scaled businesses in the country.

“With the current level of unemployment, SMEs are fast taking center stage as many are embracing innovative business ideas that generate income which in turn boost the country’s economy. These business owners have to be trained on adopting business models that will accelerate their productivity while also providing them with access to current technological innovation”.

Speaking further, Ammar highlighted the benefits of communication support for these businesses. “As Nigeria’s most innovative network, Etisalat continually seeks ways to offer the best value propositions for SMEs through various products and services. We recently launched our Easy Business package which is custom fitted to give business owners and their customers and partners an effective communication experience at cost effective rates”, he said.