In her speech, Mrs Oludolapo Adigun, Group Head, Retail
Banking, Lagos Mainland 1, FirstBank, listed the five beneficiary SMEs to
include: Buyscrap Nigeria Enterprise; Arteasy Nigeria; Gris Business; Digital
Solutions Network and Edatsu Technology Ltd.
She didclosed that each of the SMEs operator was given a
N100,000 grant to support their businesses after the SME clinic 2021, held in
partnership with Techpoint AAfrica.
Mrs Adigun explained further that SMEConnect was one of the
tools by which FirstBank delivers the capacity-building pillar of its value
propositions to SMEs, with a focus on impacting SMEs in key areas that affect
their business growth and development.
“In recent years, FirstBank has embarked on the task of
empowering SMEs, considering their immense value to the Nigerian economy.
“We created SMEConnect to help drive this mission and we’re
delighted to have partnered with Techpoint Africa for the SME clinic 2021.
“The small business grant is the tip of the iceberg of what
SMEs stand to benefit from the programme. We’re looking forward to future
partnerships, Adigun said.
Also speaking, Precious Mogoli, Director, SME Clinic by
Techpoint, said SSMEs operations were the lifeblood of any economy, and in
Nigeria, current data had shown that SMEs made up to 96 per cent of businesses,
contributing over half of the country’s Gross Domestic Product.
She noted that COVID-19 was changing the way businesses
operate globally, with more emphasis being placed on technology.
“While technology startups have been able to handle this
change, traditional enterprises have found it more difficult.
“With this in mind, the SME Clinic by Techpoint creates a forum
that teaches Nigerian SMEs grit, resilience, and how to scale their businesses
with technology.
“The SME Clinic by Techpoint tries to reach Nigerian SMEs
through its newsletter, town halls/webinars, an annual flagship event.
“It was a truly memorable moment and we hope to keep
building a community of business owners who will use technology to impact the
Nigerian economy,” Mogoli said.
She explained that small business owners in a
pandemic-ridden world must find ways to the new normal – social distance,
remote work and technology, among others, to survive.
“While few businesses have found ways to use these new and
emerging tech tools to solve everyday problems and grow their businesses,
several others still struggle to adapt,” she added.
Participants at the 2021 SME Clinic, were taught how to
sustain their businesses using technology, with training on bookkeeping and
managing an online business.