By Olasunkanmi Onifade
Chemists have been urged to move beyond laboratory research and develop marketable products capable of solving societal problems, creating jobs and driving economic growth.
Mr Tijanee AbdulGafaar, Chairman, Industrial and Entrepreneurship for the Chemical Society of Nigeria, made the call at the Business Roundtable Discussion on Financing Chemical Innovations: Strategies for Startups and Entrepreneurial Growth, on Wednesday in Abuja.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that the roundtable was held as part of the 49th Annual International Conference of the Chemical Society of Nigeria (CSN).
He said chemists needed to adopt a growth mindset to commercialise research and turn scientific ideas into viable businesses.
AbdulGafaar, who is also an industrialist, said chemistry offered numerous business opportunities because it was integral to virtually every aspect of life.
He said chemists should identify societal problems and develop products that provided practical solutions rather than limiting their work to research.
“Chemists have what we call a mindset, and much of that mindset is fixed. This prevents us from moving our research from the laboratory into industry and entrepreneurship.
“We need to move from a fixed mindset to a growth mindset. This will help us change our perspective, commercialise our research and turn it into products that provide solutions to societal problems,” he said.
AbdulGafaar said entrepreneurs did not need to start businesses on a large scale, urging young chemists to begin with available resources and gradually expand as their businesses grew.
He said access to affordable finance remained a major challenge, especially for start-ups, adding that high-interest loans could undermine businesses whose profit margins were lower than borrowing costs.
“When you want to run a business, you have to consider your profit margin. If the interest on a loan is higher than your profit margin, the business will not grow.
“It is better to access grants than high-interest loans,” he said.
Earlier, Mrs Oyebola Olugbemi, Chief Executive Officer, Royale Cleaning Solutions Ltd., said chemistry could support job creation by encouraging young Nigerians to develop products that addressed environmental and other societal challenges.
Olugbemi said young people could receive training, work in groups and produce innovative products on a small scale before expanding their businesses.
She identified access to finance as one of the major challenges facing the chemical industry, urging entrepreneurs to develop viable products capable of attracting grants and other funding.
“Where there are challenges such as water or air pollution, there are different products that can be developed to address these problems,” she said.
Also, Mrs Edith Ihegwuagu, an Agricultural Chemist and Chief Executive Officer, Nedci Consultancy and Mushroom Farm, said inadequate water supply and electricity for drying mushrooms were among the challenges affecting her business.
Ihegwuagu said low awareness of the nutritional and commercial value of mushrooms remained another challenge.
She said she had trained about 150 cooperative members through Next Mushroom and more than 50 other people in mushroom farming.
She said she was collaborating with organisations on mushroom production and training.
Ihegwuagu said she needed grants, land and other support to establish a warehouse where people could access mushroom production facilities and develop sustainable livelihoods.
Mr Isijaan Nkanta, a member of the Coordinating Team of the Chemists Business Roundtable, said the special segment was introduced to promote entrepreneurship among chemists and bridge the gap between scientific knowledge and commercialisation.
Nkanta said stakeholders, including the Bank of Industry, World Bank, Manufacturers Association of Nigeria (MAN) and government representatives, were being brought together to explore financing and other support for chemical innovations.
He said the forum would also expose chemists to the experiences of practitioners who had successfully moved their ideas from the laboratory to the market.
Nkanta urged chemists not to allow innovative ideas to remain at the ideation stage, but to take practical steps towards developing and commercialising them.
“You may not get it right at first, but start, learn from the process and continue improving,” he said. (NAN)
Edited by Tosin Kolade