Protect Workers as you grow your businesses, NSITF MD tells entrepreneurs.
By Johnbosco Agbakwuru ABUJA — The Managing Director/Chief Executive of the Nigeria Social Insurance Trust Fund (NSITF), Mr Oluwaseun Faleye, has said that Nigeria cannot develop sustainable, globally competitive enterprises without safeguarding the workers who drive them.
Faleye said this on Monday in his goodwill message at the Grow Nigerian Conference 2026, held at the Ecobank Pan African Centre (EPAC), Victoria Island, Lagos, under the theme “The Next Frontier for Innovation, Policy and Market Access.” The three-day conference, convened by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria, SMEDAN under the leadership of Director-General/CEO Mr.
Charles Odii, brought representatives of the Federal Government, development partners, business leaders, and entrepreneurs.
While commending SMEDAN for sustaining the platform, Faleye said the theme was timely, as it challenges Nigeria to move beyond business creation to building enterprises that are productive, resilient and capable of generating sustainable employment. Painting a vivid picture of the Nigerian entrepreneur, Faleye highlighted the manufacturer in Aba struggling to scale, the woman processor in Kano searching for new markets, and the young tech founder in Lagos with global ambitions. He described MSMEs as employers, innovators, and the economic lifeline of families and communities, stressing that they must remain at the heart of Nigeria’s economic transformation agenda. He, however, acknowledged the harsh operating environment in Nigeria, citing high energy costs, inflation, exchange rate pressures, limited access to affordable financing, inadequate infrastructure and logistics challenges as some of them.
MSEApp News is publishing an original rewrite of this tip for readers, based on reporting associated with Vanguard.