By Golok Nanmwa ,Jos

The Jos Business School on Wednesday hosted Dr Wiebe Boer, Managing Director of the ALL On (an investment company owned by SHELL) to a Business Lunch .

Chief Executive Officer of Jos Business School, Dr. Ezekiel Gomos, said the aim of the lunch is to enable Dr Boer to meet and exchange ideas, share experiences with some members of the business community, especially entrepreneurs in Jos.

“We are here essentially to rub minds together in our journey towards building, a more prosperous, productive and business-oriented Plateau State based on a resilient entrepreneurship ecosystem.

He said the Jos Business School has always been creating platforms and opportunities for entrepreneurs and business community in general to expand their horizon and drive the growth of their businesses.

Speaking during lunch, Dr Wiebe Boer , who previously worked for Mckinsey & Co, and was the first Executive Director of the Tony Elumelu Foundation (TEF) was a founding principal of the Nigerian Office of the Boston Consulting Group in Lagos, shared his projections on likely economic, social and geopolitical trends for businesses in Plateau and Nigeria .

He encouraged entrepreneurs in Plateau not to relent, in the face of current challenges and disruptions facing businesses but be focused and urged them to go into only the business they are passionate about.

In his words ” You must make your business properly structured and ensure that you identify and focus on your niche and not to wait for Government for funding of your businesses” .

One of the guests at the Business Lunch, Mr Danlami Gomwalk of the African Development Bank( AfDB) Abidjan, advised entrepreneurs to always consider issues of sustainability in their business decisions and not to shirk their responsibilities like business registration and tax business .

Our correspondent reports that the event which attracted over 20 young entrepreneurs/startups especially in areas like agriculture and ICT and was attended by Mr. David Daser, the Director General of (PICTDA) and David Dung Dayi CEO of Jos-based Kim Coffee, Nigeria’s first coffee processor, and Ms Zumunta Machunga-Disu CEO of Guineapig a budding agro-enterprise, and Mr Job David Ayuba, CEO of Tomruk I-hub, Jos.

A participant Yilchit Barde who spoke to our correspondent said ” It’s an invaluable experience for every start-up owner to glean wisdom nuggets from well informed Entrepreneurs like Dr Boer who have ran multimillion companies.
She further added that “The highlight for her was hearing firsthand the issues most entrepreneurs face considering the Nigerian factors and also knowing that he built his first two start-ups in Jos, which gives her some confidence against the popular limiting belief about the geography.

In her words ” I appreciate his zeal to share with us some tested and trusted success pointers” Miss Barde added.

count | 124

Jos Business School hosts Dr Wiebe Boer, other Plateau entrepreneurs