By Josephine Miller
A Nigerian serial entrepreneur and business strategist, Mr Ezekiel Solesi, has urged Nigerian entrepreneurs to think bigger, saying small business mentality remains the greatest obstacle to national economic transformation.
Solesi, who is the Chief Executive Officer of LimbSimple, said this in Abuja at the Futurecast Africa 2026 conference.
The event was in collaboration with IDCL Global, with the theme “A New Nigeria.”
He said a new Nigeria was only possible if entrepreneurs deliberately scaled their businesses to a level capable of employing people gainfully and driving meaningful policy impact.
“If you build bigger businesses and you employ people gainfully, somebody who is well fed can understand policy and understand leadership,” he said.
Solesi said Nigeria was currently running two parallel economies; one where foreign direct investment was rising; and another where inflation was out of control.
He blamed the gap on the dominance of small businesses.
He challenged entrepreneurs to market vigorously, collect business data, structure their organisations progressively and build strong brands.
On marketing, he said any entrepreneur who was not actively marketing was operating with pride, noting that potential customers were not looking for them.
He urged business owners to pay close attention to revenue data, describing it as the clearest signal of what the market truly wanted.
“Your business is always talking to you. We are the ones that are not listening,” he said.
Solesi said it was important to build a strong brand, describing it as the asset that earned a business the benefit of the doubt from customers even when things go wrong.
“A brand is not just your logo; a brand is what people think about you, and it is most of the time built by doing what you say you will do,” he said.
Mrs Oliwakemi Olorede, CEO of Futurecast Africa and IDCL Global, said the fifth edition of the conference was designed to challenge Nigerians to take personal responsibility for the country’s future.
Olorode said every Nigerian, regardless of status, was a representative of the country and had a role to play in changing its narrative.
“There is no Nigeria without us. You are the reason for this programme,” she said.
She urged participants to reflect on how their daily character and conduct could positively influence those around them.
According to her, one person’s integrity can change another’s entire perception of Nigeria.
The News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that IDCL Global is a Nigerian-based integrated marketing, advertising and technology company, providing services in digital marketing, public relations, brand strategy and technology solutions.(NAN) (www.nannews.ng)
Edited by Benson Ezugwu