Nigerian SMEs emphasised

The Central Bank of Nigeria and other government agencies have been called upon to find lasting solutions to the perennial problems of inadequate funding for small and medium enterprises (SMEs), says The Tide News.

According to a Port Harcourt-based entrepreneur, Chief Friday Amadioha, the SME sector, as an engine of economic growth of the country, has a major role to play in the overall success of the federal government's financial systems strategy 2020 programme.

He noted that the sector is bedevilled with various problems. According to him, apart from the problem of inadequate funding, SMEs lack collateral, low personal income and savings as well as lack of bankable proposals.

According to Direct Response, SMEs are to up their use of unified telecommunications this year, a new report predicts.

According to a survey by Skype, more than 50% of firms are intending to increase their integration of these technologies over the next 12 months, with two-thirds of companies currently using conference calling.

Wilheim Lundborg, business product development manager with Skype, told the news provider that such technology has in the past been outside the boundaries of SME budgets, as well as difficult to install and manage.

Middle East countries that block VOIP services are likely to come under further pressure to liberalise access to services in the light of a recent report from ICT developer Avaya, says itp.net.

Indeed, the Middle East and North Africa region has experienced a massive increase in demand for advanced business class IP telephones, with a fast growing SME sector in the region driving demand for Internet protocol (IP) telephony, according to Avaya.

According to recent statistics, the annual shipment for IP phones reached 10 million units in 2006, and the global market for IP telephony looks promising with expectations of further growth up to 164 million units by 2010, and $15 billion worth of IT services related to IP telephony migration within the next five years.