An e-commerce platform that empowers businesses to showcase their products and services online and get paid instantly, Paylink has sealed a partnership deal with the University of Ibadan (UI) in the Small and Medium-scale Enterprise Fair (UI SME Fair) which would hold at the International Conference Centre of the university on Thursday, November 12, 2020.
The partnership, according to Paylink will help bring to fruition the dreams and aspirations of Nigerians, especially millions of Small Medium Enterprises spread across the country and ultimately, boost employment and grow the Nigerian economy.
“As an organisation committed to the development of the Nigerian economy, we are always ready to partner to help bring to fruition the dreams and aspirations of Nigerians, especially millions of SMEs spread across the country. This is evident in our previous partnerships with organisers of similar SME-focused initiatives like Lagos SME Bootcamp and the Social Media Week Lagos,” said David Okeme, Division Head, Vertical Markets and Payment Applications at SystemSpecs, providers of Paylink.
An excited Okeme added that Paylink is glad to collaborate with the University of Ibadan on the hosting of the SME Fair especially at a time like this that the national economy needs to be rebuilt and accelerated following the slowdown occasioned by the COVID-19 pandemic.
The SME fair would among others things foster a robust town-gown relationship between the university and the SME community. The event also offers participating SMEs varied opportunities which include the discussion of specific business issues with SME coaches and mentors, interaction with business and product researchers as well as guidance on intellectual property protection.
Now in its second year, the UI SME Fair would further expose small and medium scale businesses to how they can better leverage digital platforms like Paylink to more easily expose their products to local and international markets, make it more convenient for customers to pay them through multiple channels, and help them better manage inventory, invoicing and revenue tracking.
With the Themed “Co-create the Future”, the 2020 edition of the UI SME Fair follows the inaugural edition last year which featured hundreds of SME owners and managers, researchers, representatives of Manufacturers Association of Nigeria, financial institutions, Industrial Trust Fund and government.
While participation is free, SMEs interested in attending and showcasing their product and service offerings at the fair can register via the website for the organisers, sme.ui.edu.ng.
The 2020 UI SME Fair would be streamed live on Paylink’s Instagram account, PaylinkNG, as part of SystemSpecs’ support for SME capacity development and digital empowerment.