 |
| Credit: Infoprations Analysis, 2018 |
Whenever economic growth and
development are debated at public sphere be it in physical or virtual setting,
people and organisations do not hesitate to churn out data about Nigeria. In
recent times, statistics such as 96% of Nigerian businesses are small and medium
enterprises compared to 53% in the United States and 65% in Europe have been
brought to the public glare by the International Financial Corporation.
Citizens, policy makers and
governments have also been informed that SMEs represent about 90% of the
manufacturing or industrial sector considering the number of businesses. Not
only this, the Nigerian government has severally told the public that there are
SME clusters in the six geopolitical zones. Despite this, there is little or no support from
governments, specialised and educational institutions.
Universities–SMEs Collaboration: What Nigeria is missing?
Once again, Dr.
Akanimo Odon has told his colleagues and policy makers that Nigeria and her
citizens are missing a lot by not supporting SMEs within the university
environment. He made the submission while sharing his experience and
observations from recent visits to over 30 African Universities. “I noticed in all of the Universities
I have visited this year the presence of a commercial bank branch. When I ask
Vice Chancellors (VCs) if they invited the bank to the University, the answer is
always 'no, the bank sent a proposal to come into the University'. But then
when I ask VCs if they have had any good engagement with the bank since being
on campus, the answer is always 'No'.
Now that doesn't make any
sense. If you told the bank ‘I am sorry you have been making money on campus,
we need 10 research scholarships or leave the campus, what do you think would
happen?’ When I speak with VCs about industry, their immediate thought is the
big companies but do these big companies need universities? The ones who
actually do are SMEs and they are in abundance in and around universities,
but why are they never engaged? Is it the availability of industry or is it
knowing how to engage for mutual benefit? So many questions revolving in my
mind as I prepare to address over 40 VCs this week at the NUC/UOL Summit, and
the African Union next week on bridging the gaps between academia and industry
in Africa.”
His narrative attracted
mixed reactions from the professionals. The analysis of the reactions shows
that lack of tailored course content to SMEs challenges, corruption and universities-industries
versus industries-universities partnership engagement issue are the key factors
obstructing the provision of supportive advisory services to SMEs in and
outside the universities. Professionals note that Nigerian universities’ course
contents are not designed to address the significant challenges SMEs are experiencing.
“SMEs provide challenges
which students and staff can take on as research projects and provide solutions
to,” Dr.
Akanimo Odon stressed in his comment to a professional. Some professionals
pointed out that corruption is impeding universities-SMEs collaboration on the
basis that some elements in the system collect money from banks and do nothing
to change the lots of small businesses.
How to engage with the universities
The issue of who should initiate the partnership first also
ensues from the discussion. One of the professionals decried the situation
where universities are expecting SMEs to approach them. “Universities in
advanced countries approach industries and tell them what they can offer to
improve their productivity and revenue. Most of our universities do not
deliberately engage industries.” Another professional adds that “education and
its domiciled society prosper when “its town” meets “the gown”. Our gown is in
its own cubicle, insulated from the realities of the town making its tonnes of
research of no effect.”
From the insights, it is
imperative for the universities to create awareness of what they can offer
SMEs, not only targeting high performing companies in the critical sectors. Beyond
this, there is a need to revisit and reinvent course contents.
Join the Conversation
Are you an entrepreneur? Do you work within an SME? Have
you attempted a partnership with academia?
Let us hear your views
Comments
Post a Comment