‘The Good. The Bad. The Opportunities’ was the theme of FATE Foundation’s 2020 Business Outlook, Our special guests at the event were Keynote Speaker; Laoye Jaiyeola CEO, Nigerian Economic Summit Group; Panelist; Wale Ajayi, Partner, Tax, Regulatory & People Services, KPMG; Panelist; Solape Hammond, Special Adviser, SDGs, and Investments; and Moderator; Max Menkiti; CEO, Millennium Apartments & Studios; President, FATE Foundation Alumni Association. The event was well attended by members of FATE Foundation’s Alumni community and took place at the Agip Hall of the Muson Center.

The discussions touched on the projected macroeconomic outlook for MSMEs in Nigeria in 2020, The Keynote Address by Laoye Jaiyeola (CEO, NESG) was about the stagnant growth rates faced by  MSMEs in the past year. He urged these entrepreneurs focus on activities that will lead to real growth that is – sustainable, competitive and inclusive. Laoye Jaiyeola concluded that technology is a tool every entrepreneur should leverage on and if we, as a nation, can fix the challenges MSMEs face, we might just solve our employment challenges.

Wale Ajayi (Partner, KPMG) informed entrepreneurs that tax knowledge is a very useful skill to have. He shared KPMG’s mobile app with attendees. This app was built to help business owners understand the different kinds of taxes, the regulations to pay attention to and calculate the amount of tax they are required to pay.

The Special Advisor, SDGs and Investment to Lagos State Government, Solape Hammond made a presentation, where she shared the vast of opportunities in different sectors made available by the Lagos State Government. The opportunities ranges from capacity development, training, grants and market linkages by different bodies set up by the state government.