By Onwa Ekor
The Cross River Microfinance and Enterprise Development Agency (MEDA) and the Calabar Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture (CALCCIMA), have resolved to return Calabar to its former position as a leading commercial hub in the region, thereby boosting the economy of the State.
This development formed part of the discourse when the newly elected executive council of CALCCIMA paid a courtesy visit on the Director General of MEDA, Great Ogban, in Calabar recently.
CALCCIMA, led during the visit by its President, Kelly Ayamba, enumerated the organizations’ shared commitment to economic development.
He pledged CALCCIMA’s support for MEDA’s initiatives aimed at revitalizing the state commercial sector, while repositioning it as a major commercial hub in Nigeria.
Responding, Ogban, congratulated the newly elected CALCCIMA executive officials and expressed MEDA’s readiness to collaborate on transforming the state’s commercial landscape.
He maintained that the partnership remains apt especially when MEDA’s MSME data mapping project and proposed monthly sector-driven stakeholder engagements, beginning with the tourism and hospitality sectors are considered.
Ogban also applauded CALCCIMA’s strategic approach which strongly compliments MEDA’s objectives in tremendously repositioning the state as a leading commercial center that is second to none in the nation.
Established in 1942 as Nigeria’s second chamber of commerce, CALCCIMA is a vital business membership organization supporting Cross River businesses.
The meeting had in attendance CALCCIMA’s leadership team including Patrick Ugbe (Deputy President), Liyel Imoukhuede (Vice President, Business Development and SMEs), Justina Ovat (Vice President, Tourism and Hospitality), Christabel Agara (Vice President, Manufacturing and Industry), Christabel Ndubuisi (Vice President, Agriculture, Agro Allied Services) and Kenneth Asim Itta (Executive Secretary).
