For small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) still struggling with capacity building and skill acquisition for growth and profitability, it is a new dawn as First City Monument Bank (FCMB) Limited has come out with a capacity building initiative aimed at empowering businesses in this class.
The initiative, which involves a training programme, is specifically aimed to enhance their financial, marketing and management skills just as it will equip the SME operators with the necessary skills they can readily deploy to operate, grow their businesses and bottom-lines effectively.
Tagged “FCMB Capacity Building Initiative: Empowering the Nigerian SMEs,’’ the empowerment programme is a partnership between the bank and Shopping Internet Services Limited and involves series of free training and radio programmes cutting across various topical issues concerning SMEs.
The pilot phase of the exercise, which the bank has aptly christened ‘cluster-marketing’ kicked-off in Lagos recently, will last for five months after which it will be extended to other parts of the country.
“This training was conceived by the bank to build the capacity of SMEs by exposing them to modern and innovative skills that would help them realise their objectives; this is in line with one of our corporate social responsibility (CSR) focal areas of the bank and its values as a helpful financial institution,” Olufemi Bakre, the bank’s executive director, Lagos and South-West, said.
Bakre, who spoke at a press conference in Lagos recently, added, “FCMB realises that SMEs play pivotal role in the growth of the nation’s economy; we also understand that a number of factors combine to determine the success or failure of SMEs,” assuring that the bank was focused on being a strategic partner to such businesses, considering the huge opportunities the SMEs offer in the areas of job creation, poverty eradication and economic development.
The training session has been endorsed by stakeholders such as Shopping Internet Nigeria Limited, Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Jobberman Limited, House of Tara and Metro FM, which will broadcast the training on radio.
The course content and the resource persons, who are highly experienced, have been carefully chosen to ensure participants derive maximum benefits from the training. Among the topics are ‘SME Challenges and Key Skills/Knowledge of a Successful Entrepreneur; Effective Marketing of SME Products or Service; Managing Distributors, Resellers and Agents for Success; Pricing Strategies to Increase Sales; How To Make The Best Use of Your Banking Relationship; Identifying Biggest Business Opportunities’, among others.
George Ogbonnaya, the bank’s group head, business banking group, emphasised that FCMB was committed to building a strong SME base in the country, adding that apart from funding SMEs, the bank has also developed a product known as FCMB Business Account designed to meet the banking needs of customers in the SME space in Nigeria.
These banking needs, he explained, vary from collection services, account management flexibility, alternate channels availability, accessibility to funds in account as and when needed, cost efficient pricing, access to loans etc, saying that the product comes with a business debit card which might be used by customers for local and international payments.
It is instructive to note that FCMB is one of the banks appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria for the disbursement of the N220 billion Micro Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) fund provided by the Federal Government to support such businesses. The bank has continued to provide support at various levels, including funding and advisory services to customers operating in the SMEs segment to grow their businesses in a sustainable manner.
CHUKA UROKO
