The Group Managing Director and CEO of Blue Seal Energy Group Inc. Dr. Doyle Edeni has called for a conducive workable business relationship and enabling business environment between Private Investors and Governments across the African region

Dr. Edeni made this solemn call during his speech as a panel discussion member at the just concluded 13^th Practical Nigerian Content Forum 2024 held at Nigeria Content Tower in Yenagoa Bayelsa State, with the theme: Defining The Next Frontier for Nigerian Content Implementation.

He stated that for small business entrepreneurship to grow government needs to reduce its numerous unnecessary regulatory agencies with replication of duties and functions as these agencies invariable retard progressive business establishments through their clumsiest and unnecessary bureaucratic procedures.

“Nobody is coming to save you to build your continent. There is a huge opportunity for experts in the diaspora who are ready and want to come to develop this country, but when you put barriers, like dealing with about 13 agencies both at the Local, State, and Federal levels for you to operate then it becomes difficult. They are just creating all kinds of unnecessary bureaucratic barriers.

“So we are trying to make the authority know that these are issues and barriers to investment and we are helping to create opportunities as much as possible we want to engage people that can produce for themselves,” Dr. Edeni said.

“We have a plan to build about 10 factories in the next 15 years and the first three of these factories will be in Nigeria because if we can conquer this territory then we will have the opportunity to go elsewhere and from here will go to Kenya and Ghana,” He added

Further in the panel discussion, he addressed the need for strategic collaboration between industrial stakeholders and academia as a veritable tool for Corporate Social Responsibility CSR that will invariably address the issues of brain drain in the industrial sector which he termed as very critical.

“As part of our CSR, we have entered into a strategic relationship with the University of Benin and the University of Lagos and we are in consultation with them as they cannot just keep graduating students that have no clue of what is happening in the industry.

“Our schools are the repository of ideas and knowledge and for people that have such ingenious ideas we need to create platforms. And for companies like us that have the opportunity to do that in terms of transfer of knowledge they will bring their molecules and samples we test them with our experts and see how we can patent them as we now have both local and international credibility.

Dr. Edeni attributed the present growth of his company to the part mentorship played at the early stage of his business. He emphasizes this as part of the importance of a necessary guide every upcoming entrepreneur needs for a successful business vision ahead.

“I think mentorship is very critical, we did just jump from the air, there are companies like GGI, and Goddie Chemicals that mentored me at a point in my life I want to think that I am trying to do this and you have established in the industry already and how do you help us grow. I remember that GGI gave us the first warehouse we used because, within the first years, we didn’t have the resources to afford a warehouse. And also NCDMB has helped us often, especially when building our factory,” Dr. Edeni said.         

Blue Seal Boss finally calls for a mutual and conducive enabling business environment between African countries to enhance the seamless trade flow and transfer of knowledge and technology across the continent. He stated that African countries should relax some rash trade regulations that seem to be barriers for fellow African investors to establish businesses across the Continent.

“Whatever we have here in Nigeria should be free for other African countries and people should open their doors because if as a region we can’t compete together then we will always have people that will take these resources elsewhere,” He posited.