First City Monument Bank (FCMB), one of Nigeria’s leading deposit money banks, has admonished small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria to take the lead in driving the diversification and growth of the economy.
This came during the fifth edition of the annual free capacity building programme “Business Enterprises and Sustainability Training (BEST)” hosted by the bank for existing and start-up SMEs in Lagos, following the success recorded from the previous edition held across the country.
Reasons For The Partnership Between SMEs And FCMB
The Executive Director Business Development of FCMB, Mrs. Bukola Smith, while speaking on the BEST initiative, said the Bank recognizes the increasing impact of SMEs, and the roles they play in the lives of people and society.
According to her, “the initiative is one of the ground-breaking ways we support the growth of our SME customers because without effective training and exposure as this, resounding success could be quite challenging to accomplish”.
Lauding the effort by the financial institution, she said, “We have confidence that this comprehensive training programme will go a long way to positively impact the SME operators who have participated in our training. We believe It will propel them to further develop themselves.”
The participants (small business owners) at the training academy expressed their gratitude to FCMB for living up to its Execution, Professionalism, Innovation and Customer-focus (EPIC) core values. The academy highlighted some of the challenges faced as business owners and how they can transform these encounters into opportunities to have a sustainable business growth.
SMEs in Nigeria and economic development
Over the years, SMEs in Nigeria have stimulated national and economic development in the areas of production, exports, employment and income generation. This is due to the catalytic role they play in the lives of people and the society.
The Nigerian small and medium businesses are in the look out for possible ways to take their respective businesses to the next level and be able to compete within and outside the Nigerian market. The initiative by the bank is a welcomed development to keep the SME space thriving.
FCMB; Nigeria’s foremost financial institution
First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited, a member of FCMB Group Plc, is one of the foremost financial services institutions in Nigeria with subsidiaries that are market bests in their respective sectors.
Having positively changed to a retail and commercial banking-led group, FCMB hopes to continue distinguishing itself by delivering incomparable services, while enhancing the growth and achievement of the personal and business aspirations of our customers.
The financial services institution, in a release, dated March 29th, 2019, recorded a 73% profit increase in the year ended December,2018.
Entrepreneurship is a lonely journey, let us help you get through it with our services.
