As part of its support for the sustained development of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) sectors of the Nigerian Economy, FirstBank through its SMEConnect platform has created Open Seminars which will take place in various parts of the country with kick off edition in Port Harcourt, Rivers State in early May, 2014.
The Seminar series with an overriding theme of “We can help with that”, is a one-day workshop also scheduled to take place in Kaduna, Abuja, Enugu, Ibadan, Kano, Jos and Lagos in subsequent months and is designed to provide practical help on relevant challenges faced by small businesses and will focus on capacity building, business plan writing, marketing products and services as well as accessing bank loans and documentation.
According to the Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney, at FirstBank, we believe that the SMEs are at the heart of national development, contributing greatly to the gross domestic product of our country. It is on this premise that we introduced the Open Seminars which will be conducted in partnership with the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) of the Pan Atlantic University a centre renowned for the development and entrepreneurial skills acquisition of small business owners, budding entrepreneurs as well as reskilling of established entrepreneurs
“As Nigeria’s leading SME bank, we are focused on empowering SMEs and SME entrepreneurs towards capacity building and development to contribute to the growth of our economy in providing employment to people, adding to our GDP and repositioning the national economy for sustained growth. Participants, in the various regions will need to register on the Bank’s dedicated microsite www.firstbanknigeria.com/smeconnect and pay a little sum of N2, 000 to attend the seminars. The site will also provide links to all the resource material used during the seminars as well as serve as a channel to obtain feedback from customers and communicate products and services targeted at SMEs”. She said
SMEConnect is FirstBank’s value proposition geared towards building the capacity of SMEs to deliver to business goals and contribute even more significantly to national development. In November 2013, FirstBank hosted the maiden edition of its SME Conference themed, “SMEs at the heart of National Development: Creativity, Capacity and Capital”. The FirstBank SMEConnect value proposition goes beyond an SME product or suite of products to a robust engagement programme designed in every way to help SMEs succeed. Asides the various programmes tailored to suit the needs of SMEs’, FirstBank is partnering with CNN for the sponsorship of CNN’s African Start-Up show. A 30-minute documentary show which follows and highlights the trials and triumphs of entrepreneurs across African countries as well as providing insights into recipe for success in small enterprise.