First Bank Holds SME Conference

As part of efforts to support the growth of small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country, First Bank of Nigeria Limited will tomorrow organise the SMEConnect, a programme aimed at supporting entrepreneurs.
The maiden edition of the conference titled: “SMEs at the Heart of National Development: Creativity, Capacity and Capital,” holds in Lagos.
The conference will have the Lagos State Governor, Babatunde Fashola as host; the Minister of Trade and Investment, Mr. Olusegun Aganga as guest of honour; while the Chief Executive Officer, Sokoa Chair Centre, Mrs. Ibukun Awosika; and the Chief Executive Officer, Konga.com, Mr. Sim Shagaya, would serve as keynote speakers.

First Bank’s Executive Director, Retail Banking South, Mr. Gbenga Shobo, said the critical role of SMEs as the engine of growth in the economy in providing employment to thousands of people and contributing significantly to the Gross Domestic Product (GDP) makes the conference a timely platform for repositioning the nation’s SMEs for growth.

According to Shobo, the conference would have two panel sessions that would address access to capital, leveraging creativity and capacity development.
“Creativity is at the heart of entrepreneurship and all SMEs require some measure of this to birth their companies and continue to evolve and grow their businesses.

“Growth is not possible without building capacity in each sector by the acquisition of necessary skills and human resources to drive the business. Expansion can only be funded by acquiring the capital to invest in the business and take it to the next level of operation,” Shobo said.

November 25, 2013