AS MORE black Londoners go into business, Ervine Okuboh wants to ensure they get the chance to make a real impact. It is something that business analysts and observers have been predicting for a number of years. Now, recent statistics from the Department of Trade and Industry have confirmed that the highest number of business start-ups are from within Britain's ethnic minority communities. Government ministers have credited the sector with reviving Britain's entrepreneurial spirit. However, despite the excitement about the figures, there is also a recognition that starting a business is one thing, but being able to make a profit after your first three years is another. This is particularly the case for black-owned businesses, which have traditionally struggled with issues such as access to finance, developing strong business plans and the ability to compete for big contracts. CHALLENGE It is a challenge that inspires Ervine Okuboh. As business development manager of the London Development Agency (LDA), he wants to play a major role in helping the growing number of black business ventures to blossom into a strong and vibrant sector, on a par with the African-American business sector. This has produced such corporate giants as John H. Johnson, founder of Ebony and Jet magazines; Russell Simmons, head and founder of Def Jam Records and food billionaire, the late Reginald Lewis. Okuboh is a passionate believer in the underdog. He says: "The passion for me is about seeing projects and businesses in inner-city areas develop and grow and be able to compete in the mainstream," he said. "The business support role that the LDA provides is crucial because it can determine whether or not a business survives in its early days. "My vision is that the work I'm doing not only becomes part of the mainstream but a flagship for black and minority ethnic (BME) business support." SUPPORT THE GROWTH The agency has drawn up Mayor of London Ken Livingstone's business strategy for the capital. It also aims to improve equality of opportunity for all Londoners by investing more than 300 million pounds a year to support the growth of new and existing businesses and the creation of new jobs. Okuboh is currently working on a strategy that will see black businesses gain access to international markets and sources of finance. "These are major issues," he said. "Entrepreneurs need to know what is happening and the mainstream business support agencies need to change their culture because black-owned businesses are now a large and important sector, worth 40 billion pounds [in the U.K.]." Okuboh's path to the LDA began in 1984 after working for the Nigerian High Commission in London. "After I left the commission, I took up a post as director of an arts enterprise agency in Manchester, where I gained a lot of experience in economic development," he recalls. "From there I moved into other posts and gained a lot of experience in Government programmes like Task Force, City Challenge, Single Regeneration Budget. All the jobs that I have done have always had something to do with the development of BME businesses. One of the things the LDA is trying to do is to ensure that BME businesses have full access to the range of business support services." According to Okuboh, E.U. ministers are currently looking for ways to create opportunities for businesses to compete for contracts, particularly in the public sector. "During the next few years, there is likely to be legislation that will have major positive implications for BME businesses," Okuboh explains. "But they need to get themselves into position, so that when the legislation comes in they are able to sit at the table of decision making and win major contracts, not based on the colour of their skin but on the fact that they can deliver, they are competitive and they have marketable product and services." AN EXAMPLE He dismisses those who claim that this is a concession to positive discrimination and points to what has been achieved in America as an example of how legislation can work to build a prosperous black business sector. It was legislation that saw African-American entrepreneurs move from being bit part players to undertaking big corporate programmes with the likes of the Ford motor company. "Black business people were able to use that legislation to build their local communities. That legislation began 20 years ago in the mid to late '80s and has still continued in terms of specific programmes. The European Commission is looking to replicate this. It needs to happen to push forward the BME business agenda." ABILITY TO COMPETE It's a prospect that truly excites him: "The kind of legislation being considered by the EU is going to make it easier for successive generations of black business owners," he states. "But that doesn't obscure the need for BME businesses to be at the top of their game and ensure that they can compete when opportunities come knocking." SOURCE: JAMAICA-GLEANER.COM/THE VOICE