FirstBank Partners NBCC To Drive MSME Growth

First Bank of Nigeria Limited has partnered the Nigerian-British Chamber of Commerce to jointly host a Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises workshop to focus on the fundamentals of building a sustainable business.

According to a statement by the lender on Sunday, the two-day workshop holding this week in Lagos is designed to boost participants’ capacity and create value for the MSMEs, given the pivotal role they play in modern economies in the areas of job creation and significant contribution to the Gross Domestic Product.

The lender said it had, over the years, emphasised the fact that Africa’s economies could not move forward if MSMEs and budding entrepreneurs were continuously starved of the right knowledge and skills set to grow their businesses.

The statement read in part, “As a nation builder, the bank is intensifying support for the MSMEs through a number of initiatives geared towards raising their level of competitiveness in a challenging business environment.

“Key areas of discourse at the workshop will include financial windows available to the MSMEs and how to access them, strategy development and implementation for small businesses, sustainability opportunities for small businesses, and financial management for growing businesses, among others.”

The lender said it would also provide facilitators from senior members of staff proficient in the business of the MSMEs to proffer practical solutions on business growth and development.

The Deputy Managing Director, FirstBank, Mr. Gbenga Shobo, was quoted as saying, “The SME market segment is one of FirstBank’s strategic platforms to stimulate economic development and we would continue to support activities geared towards the sustainable development of the segment.”

About FirstBank

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, is Nigeria’s leading financial services institution by total assets and gross earnings and one of the largest corporate and retail banking financial institutions in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa). Since its establishment in 1894, the Bank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, risk management and strong capitalization.

FirstBank operates an extensive distribution network with over 750 business locations (623 branches, 61 quick service points and 69 cash centers/agencies), over 2,600 ATM’s and over 10 million customer accounts.  The Bank provides a comprehensive range of financial services and has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank DR Congo, FBNBank Ghana, FBNBank Gambia, FBNBank Guinea, FBNBank Sierra-Leone and FBNBank Senegal as well as its Representative Offices in Johannesburg, Beijing and Abu Dhabi.

FirstBank is the recipient of many awards. The Bank has been named “The Best Bank Brand in Nigeria” five times in a row – 2011, 2012, 2013, 2014 and 2015 – by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group. FirstBank’s brand purpose is to always put its stakeholders, customers and partners at the heart of its business, even as it is poised to standardize customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across Sub Saharan Africa, in consonance with its brand vision “To be the partner of first choice in building your future”. The brand promise is to always deliver the ultimate “gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on the FirstBank’s inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position its customers first in every respect.

For three consecutive years, 2012, 2013 and 2014, FirstBank was named the “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards. Other recent awards include the “Best Bank in Nigeria” in the Euromoney Awards for Excellence, “Best Bank in West Africa” and “Most Innovative Bank in Africa” in the African Banker Awards, “Best Bank in Nigeria” in the EMEA Finance African Banking Awards for the fourth time, “Best Foreign Exchange Services in Africa” in the EMEA Finance Treasury Services Awards, “Best Banking Group in Nigeria” by World Finance Banking Awards.