Are there opportunities for smaller companies to set-up businesses in Nigeria?
If SME’s can come together I think that there are significant opportunities for them to grow their businesses. I would suggest, depending on what sector you are in, if there is a major player within that sector, a group or even a cluster of companies can work together. It is like MTN going into Nigeria – all the SMEs in the telecoms sector in South Africa moved into Nigeria with MTN. Because they provided certain services to MTN in South Africa, it was much easier for them to replicate those services in Nigeria. If I was an SME in South Africa I would mirror the direction of the major corporates because that serves as a platform to identify the opportunities. 2) In your opinion, what is the most common mistake foreign companies make when setting up a business in Nigeria? I think the most important thing is trust – you can only build relationships based on trust. If foreigners come into Nigeria not trusting anybody it will always be a problem because people don’t feel comfortable with y
