By Okechukwu Onuegbu
Bon Hotels Smith City, Awka, Anambra State, on Friday, held its 2nd edition of Business Summit with a view to equipping the youth with skills to create wealth and excel as employers of labour.
The event with a theme, Business Ethics & Sustainability in 21st century, which was attended by captains of industries, entrepreneurs, investors and youth across all fields of endeavours, came at the time Nigeria was yearning for innovators to revive her dwindling economy.
Speaking at the occasion, the General Manager, Bon Smith City Hotel Awka, Mr Anthony Zuokemefa, explained that the programme was geared towards harnessing the young generation potentials leveraging in technology and innovation to build profitable and socially impactful businesses.
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Contributing, the Sales/Marketing Manager, Bon Smith City Hotel, Mr Arinze Anaegbunam, described the event as their corporate responsibility program which according to him, served as an added voice to the investment drive of the Anambra government.
"The summit was designed to address the issue of deviant involvement in crimes and vices by the youths, causing a positive reorientation, paradigm shift and realignment to purpose. It is a self sponsored one, and for this year 2024, I won't fail to appreciate the Anambra State government, the chairman, the speakers, attendees, everyone who played a role in seeing that the event was a success.
"I believe for greater years to come, and society where the youths are custodians of peace, productivity and progress. We want to educate the youth and ensure they are given adequate orientation that can help them grow to become wealth creators and employers of labour without making mistakes made by their forebearers," he added.
Speaking at the summit, stakeholders including innovators, visionaries and leaders, hailed the management and staff of the hotel for organising such an annual programme despite being just five years of existence in Awka, even as they identified observance of business ethics, having business sustainability plans, focus and training as foundation for business growth.
According to them, businesses mostly collapse when founders lacked legitimacy, were inconsistent, failed to keep to promises or failure to make adequate plans for sustenance of the enterprise even after their deaths.
They also advocated for trustworthiness among the entrepreneurs, while urging them to always carry out feasibility studies, constant research, training and retraining to gain more knowledge and exposures to further opportunities for business growth.
Other recommendations made by the experts were that entrepreneurs should endeavour to invest into the busineses they have access to raw materials, build skills to convert risks and mistakes to growth opportunities, adding that fidelity, credibility and rebranding were equally needed to grow brands.
Speaking at the occasion, a realtor, Mr Chisom Nwafor charged entrepreneurs to identify, focus to their targets, seek training, exposures and other opportunities for developments and expansion of scope of their businesses.
Another speaker and entrepreneur, Mr Jude Obuekwe, who identified leadership as among the challenges crippling the country's economy, insisted that entrepreneurs should always utilise their positions to create and commercialise values so as to gain and impact lives positively.
On his part, Barr. Uchenna Ajator, who hinted that businesses do not exist to only make gains but to impact lives, tasked entrepreneurs to build their customers trusts for legitimacy and social approval.
However, a pharmacist from Nnamdi Azikiwe University, Awka, Dr Edith Anyankwo urged business owners to refrain from over stressing themselves in the name of striving to earn wealth, adding that they should rather take control of their mental health for what she described as pathway for healthy living, wealth creation and management.