By Tony Obiechina, Abuja
The Abuja Chamber of Commerce and Industry (ACCI) said it is proposing a legislation that will make it mandatory for all businesses to register with the Chamber.
Consequently, the Chamber has directed its Policy Advocacy Centre (PAC) to work with the National Assembly to initiate a Bill to that effect.
ACCI President, Dr Al Mujtaba Abubakar disclosed this while addressing the 31st Annual General meeting of the Chamber in Abuja on Thursday.
“We have also directed the Executive Director, PAC, to work with the National Assembly on initiating a Bill that would make it mandatory for businesses to register with a Chamber of Commerce”, he said.
On his achievements since assuming office in January this year, Abubakar said, “Upon ascension to the office of the President, and having appraised the activities of the Chamber, I evolved a strategy that would strengthen structure, systems, processes and staff towards achieving the mission we have set for the Chamber.
“Over the past months, we have been unable to implement the final stage of the development of the 10 hectares due to government bureaucracy. Nevertheless, the Project Committee alongside the Executive Members of the Chamber have been working assiduously to ensure speedy completion and obtaining of the necessary approvals from FCDA”.
He said building on the remarkable landmark projects executed by the immediate past President of the Chamber, “I had set out to develop another iconic project to complement the existing structures on ground, this is being hampered by financial constraint.
“However, I am looking at other financing models that may be deployed for the developmental projects within the precinct of the Abuja Chamber of Commerce complex”, Abubakar pointed out.
“Consequently, I developed 5 strategic objectives viz; (i) to promote the interest of members of the Chamber (ii) to develop the staff of the Chamber through capacity building (iii) to optimize the land and property assets of the Chamber (iv) to strengthen existing relationship with other chambers of commerce and drive membership (v) to increase collaboration between the Chamber and the government and diplomatic community.
“I am glad to inform you that the activities required to deliver on these strategic objectives have been and will continue to be implemented. We organized training for all staff across all levels. Some staff were sponsored to attend professional conferences while some Executive and Council members were supported by the Chamber to attend international events”.
The President also disclosed that during the year 2021, the Chamber was able to put the facilities to use through rental, while managing the previous lease
agreements, adding that it is working with a developer to execute the development of the 10 hectares of land.
On capacity building, he said during the year under review, Executive Directors of all the Centres, Management and non management staff were trained, in accordance with my goal to develop, retain and attract skilled human development.
On the international and diplomatic space, he said, “the Chamber continues to expand her frontiers in building relationships with embassies with a view to establishing linkages between members of the Chamber and their counterparts in other countries. Through the embassies, contacts were made to business organizations and as a result, several business networking meetings were held”.
At the AGM, the Auditor’s Report was presented and adopted as well as Appointment and remuneration of the auditors for 2020. Certificates were also presented to the newly inducted members.
