Cellente Launches Pro Bono Services for MSMEs to Fight Poverty, Unemployment in Nigeria

By Chiamaka Ozulumba

Cellente Limited is a business management consulting firm that partners with corporate and personal brands across Africa to grow into desirable global brands by working with these firms and individuals in varying phases of the business cycle; usually from ideation to maturation.

The creative business advisory firm aims at stabilising micro and small businesses in their initial stages of development, enabling these business owners, their customers and the economy to flourish in the current economic climate.

When the world is going through a tightening economic strain, compelling MSMEs to either shutdown or charge higher rates and pushing customers to compensate beyond their budget, Cellente introduces a Pro Bono service that helps level the playing field for small business owners to continue to thrive, thereby extending these benefits to their clients.

The Director, Cellente Limited, Victoria Odimba shares how her passion compelled her to start up Cellente to provide business advisory and marketing communication solutions to help businesses and individuals thrive in the business world, especially small business owners who cannot afford the basic business requirements to set the business going smoothly.

“I have seen too many micro and small businesses go under due to various challenges such as high operating costs, human resources, inadequate knowledge or lack of business strategy, operational skills and capital to run the business successfully, this is a major concern for me and I knew something had to be done, one MSME at a time.

This led to the birth of the Cellente SME Drive designed to create viable businesses that will drive economic growth.

Cellente aims to partner like minds across various industries to provide financial aid and or products for goods-based businesses and organise regular trainings for these business owners who are unarguably a vital part of the economy and employment, to enhance growth and sustainability.

After a careful review of the 17 Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) and the current situation in most African countries, Cellente Limited decided to tackle seven of the 17 SDGs with the aim of taking a stand and joining forces to achieve these goals by 2030.

Despite the significant contribution of SMEs to the Nigerian economy, challenges still persist that hinders the growth and development of the sector. According to the Nigeria Bureau of Statistics, small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria have contributed about 48 per cent of the national GDP in the last five years.

With a total number of about 17.4 million, they account for about 50 per cent of industrial jobs and nearly 90 per cent of the manufacturing sector, in terms of number of enterprises.

Though significant growth has been achieved in the MSME sector, there is still much to be done. According to an article on “developing Africa through effective, socially responsible investing”, “there still exists a ‘missing middle’, which finds it hard to access funds due to the category of funding they belong to.”

Other challenges encountered by the sector include lack of skilled manpower, multiplicity of taxes, and high cost of doing business, among others.

Cellente has introduced its SME Drive with the mission of “challenging the status quo” and seeking to reduce the current state of poverty and unemployment to the barest minimum by partnering and empowering small businesses that have proven beyond doubt to be backbone of the economy and eradicating unemployment, to create viable business solutions, increase revenue, enhance growth and sustainability.

If we are to meet the number one Sustainable Development Goal- to Eradicate Poverty by 2030, “more people will need to be financially empowered; via knowledge acquisition and financial support” Victoria Odimba further added.

The marketplace is brimming with highly innovative business ideas offering a myriad of goods and services, and Cellente plans to work with a select number of micro businesses in the coming months to achieve its goal.