Event vendors under the auspices of the Alimosho Event Vendors Association have said poor government policies, and inadequate access to funding are some of the challenges facing the sector which is estimated to be worth N100bn.
The President of AEVA, Taiwo Awojoodu, disclosed this while speaking on Thursday, during the association’s annual event, Expose 2. 0, themed, ‘Navigation, moving forward against all odds.’
According to her, the hike in the cost of some infrastructure has eaten deep into event vendors’ profits. She stated that price fluctuations are adversely affecting the sector.
She said, “Challenges affecting event professional ranges from standardisation, bad government policies, economic insecurities, lack of access to funds, hike in the price of some infrastructures that have in turn eaten down on our profits, inconsistency in market price whereby the price granted to clients as of the time of taking the job is higher than the time of production.”
Explaining further, Awojoodu said the essence of the lecture is to update practitioners on the current happenings around the world.
According to her, the events industry contributes about N100bn the nation’s Gross Domestic Product and has about two million professionals.
She stated, “The event industry is a very saturated one and highly competitive. Hence from time to time, one has to be on top of his or her game.
“The master class seeks to educate, inform, and discuss general issues confronting the average event professional. This time also gives the opportunity to network bringing about collaboration and brand awareness.”
She further said that a lot of players in the sector are suffering to meet up adding that they spend 30 per cent of their cost on logistics alone. She added that most of their investments have not yielded any returns.
She said, “The economic downturn has been an issue of concern because a lot of us have been struggling to meet up with delivering our services to clients at almost no profit, this is an issue of concern because a lot of investments have been unable to yield in terms of turnover.
“Imagine spending 30 per cent of what a client has paid for service on logistics alone. How do you calculate your cost of production talk more of profit. The event industry on a monthly basis contributes over 30 per cent of the income of the economy and as such should get focus to growth.”
Also speaking, the Secretary of AEVA, Mrs Adaramola Adetutu, added, “We are here to learn new things that will take us to the next level.”
