The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Enterprise Bank Limited, Ahmed Kuru has reiterated the bank’s commitment towards the support of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the country, describing that sector of the economy as ‘critical’ to the development of Nigeria.
Kuru, who spoke in Lagos while receiving the leadership of the Nigerian Association of Small and Medium Enterprises (NASME), led by Lizzy Okereke, the association’s Deputy President, Finance and Administration, maintained that Enterprise Bank realized the strategic importance of SMEs in fast tracking the growth of the Nigerian economy and has since thrown its support to SMEs as well as organizations like NASME that champion the course of SMEs in Nigeria.
To show how important the sector is to the financial sector as partners in progress, the Enterprise Bank boss said that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has worked out a blue print that supports SME growth in the country and encouraged all Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria to support the sector. He however regretted the fact that entrepreneurs were not taking the full advantage of the support that banks were willing to give.
He said, “There is need for knowledge sharing and capacity building among those that are interested in benefiting from the support that the banks are giving to the sector. At Enterprise Bank and indeed other banks today, there are many products that have been carefully developed for the benefit of the SMEs. But we have a situation where those that the products are designed for are not even aware and are not making any effort to know how they can be involved in the scheme.”
