Emerging investment and business management consultancy firm operating from Europe, Gradient Consulting Africa (GCA), has set out plans to provide financial access for Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria and the entire sub-Saharan Africa.
In a statement, founder of, GCA, Mr. Ajibade Yusuf, observed lack of funding was the bane of SME growth in Nigeria.
He added that funding is still frustrating entrepreneurs’ efforts to build profitable ventures and provide jobs for the country’s unemployed youths.
Ajibade noted that while the big corporations could easily work out favourable loan deals with banks, the SMEs lacked the capacity, adding that dearth of fund was killing small businesses in Nigeria.
“A significant percentage of the players in the Nigerian economy do not have access to capital. The first layer of the economy consists the established corporations and well-known private investors with huge resources. These organisations have access to capital through the banks and have the capacity to arrange favourable loan deals.
“The second and third layers are made up of small entrepreneurs, start-up businesses and local sole traders. However, the percentage of the first layer is quite small and not enough to stimulate and sustain economic growth. My goal is to use the GCA’s access to data and our vast network to ensure that SMEs in the second and third layers of our economy are not totally left behind in terms of funding.
“Our association with key partners provides us with access to unrivalled data and analytics. This means that we are able to provide our clients with information that will assist them in making prompt investment decisions.
“In addition, we have consultants with many years’ experience in finance and data analytics. We are a diverse group of professionals with flexibility and maturity to listen and understand your needs, and provide a bespoke service with personal touch than our competitors would.”
