By Peter OBIORA InvestAdvocate

London (INVESTADVOCATE)-Stakeholders at the Courteville Business Solutions Plc sponsored African & Caribbean Business Expo Saturday advised Quoted Companies on the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) to seek offshore opportunities.

Em Ekong, Director African and Caribbean Business Experience (AACBE) gave this advice at a Private Launch Party which included a fashion Showcase to herald the Africa and Caribbean Business Expo in the United Kingdom (UK).

Ekong said the Expo will bring Companies and Stock Exchanges from Africa and Caribbean to map out ways to expand and grow in the area of businesses and investment; both in Africa and the Caribbean.

The AACBE Director was said to have quoted that only 1.2 percent (1.2%) of Black businesses participate in UK based export, and outward missions compared to 14.6% of their white counterparts. “This project aims to address this gap and also recognises the importance of skills and knowledge transfer exported by Diaspora communities that are not captured by mainstream indicators” Ekong said.

Adebola Akindele, Group Managing Director (GMD) of Courteville in his speech at the Private Party Launch said that the Company was at the Expo as Ambassadors of Nigeria to showcase the Country’s business opportunities.

“We are African and Nigerians; we do what we do the best way possible’ he said.

According to Akindele, Nigeria with a population of 167 million people as at year 2011 is 2.5% of the world population. “Africa has an estimated 1.0 billion people; so Nigerian constitute about 15% of that figure’ he said

The GMD of Courteville affirmed that Nigeria has the third fastest growing Gross Domestic Product (GDP) in the world as at the First Half (H1) of year 2012.

He said the Nigerian GDP grew from $46 billion to about $250 billion in the review period. This growth is exposing a lot of business potentials in Nigeria, we have all these and the highest volume of percentage of middle level population, the Per Capital Income (PCI) is about $2,500’ he said.

Akindele further affirmed that a few years ago, Per Capital Income was less than $400, “Nigeria started on the road to democracy in 1999 and everything changed, whatever you must have heard, I am here marketing Nigeria to say that if you want any business opportunity in Africa, Nigeria is the best destination.

This is where Courteville comes in as a Quoted Company on the Nigeria’s Exchange; because of the business solutions we proffer. The things we do that are unique, we have come up with a lot of innovative ideas that we have put into practice, when you start a business and you succeed in a place that has about 167 million people, you will go places, Courteville has succeeded with every single idea and solution it has come out with in Nigeria and beyond” he said.

Akindele said that people from the UK and other parts of Europe have a lot to learn from Africans and Caribbeans; which included the way businesses are done and what can be offered.

“Anything that has to do with business as a Country, we have made our mistakes and Courteville has learnt from that; if you want to engage in any Private, Public or Government Business, we at Courteville have the ideas to help you deliver on your promises” Akindele affirmed.

On her part, Pamela Coke Hamilton, Executive Director (ED) Caribbean Export Development Agency (CEDA) said the world and Europe is in crisis, “the unemployment rate in Spain is 24.6%, the highest ever that have been recorded.” She said.

According to her, the Caribbean is not vulnerable to the entire global economic and financial crisis; since the region is a major tourism earner. “Therefore, what we needed to do is to look at how the Caribbean in essence can begin to reposition itself as a viable region and emerging Market for the cultural and creative industries” she said.

Hamilton affirmed that the Caribbean this one of the largest growing in the world in terms of these sectors and has a natural brand; which is recognised in the world for its vibrancy, colour, innovation, creativity and natural beauty.

“We believe that in repositioning the Caribbean, one of the elements that has the potential to be; as we create and seek to harness the benefits of the Caribbean Brand is what you will see tonight in our Fashion Showcase” she said.

She affirmed that it’s pertinent to look at the business of sports and how it can be harnessed to the benefit of the Caribbean region. “Despite the success we can see on the sporting arena, we also want to look at what is the business of Sports, and how it can be harnessed to benefit the Region in a more holistic manner, also how can we extend our processes to lead to our Tourism Industry develop in way that makes the Caribbean sustainable and make investments something that we can actually depend on” Hamilton said.

In the same vein, Fola Kudehinbu, Executive Chairman African & Caribbean Chamber of Commerce & Enterprise (ACCCE) in a chat with www.investadvocateng.com said one of the reasons for organising the Expo was that the Olympics was happening in London, and it will present the opportunity for networking.

Kudehinbu said the second reason was that London is the most diverse city in the world; comprising of the Africa and Caribbean Community. “We want to showcase the African and Caribbean Community and what they do in the UK and the best was to organise the Expo’ he said.

He affirmed that the Expo is all about seeing Africa from a different perspective and the business opportunities inherent in it.

Kudehinbu said the world is a small place and Courteville as a Nigerian country has demonstrated this by seeking to expand its operations to other parts of the world. “No Company can succeed by only engaging in local businesses” he said.

He advised Quoted Companies on the Nigerian Bourse to seek expansion offshore in order to grow their businesses. It’s not about the world coming to Africa; but Africa going to the world” he said.

Kudehinbu said Companies should look at advantages that they have and sell same to the world. “Dangote is going to be listing on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) later in the year, they have opened operations in London with Nigerian working there, We want to see the PZs, United Bank for African plc, and other Quoted Companies on the Nigeria’s Exchange expand beyond Africa” he said.

“This century is being described, quite accurately, as “the African century”. There are good reasons for this. Between 2001-2010, 6 of the 10 fastest growing economies in the world were in Africa. This will increase to 7 out of 10 by 2015. The Expo is an opportunity to showcase the opportunities that abound in Africa and why your business should be looking to be involved in Africa” he was quoted as saying.