First City Monument Bank (FCMB) has continued to deepen its support to Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria by disbursing over N3 billion to such businesses in the last 18 months.
The development has led to an increase in the number of SME operators that have benefitted from the funding support of the bank across the country.
The lender is one of the top participating banks appointed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to drive the N220 billion Development Fund instituted by the apex regulatory body to provide loans to SMEs.
Beyond the funding, FCMB has put in place various initiatives and capacity building programmes that have fast-tracked the growth of SMEs, thereby up-scaling the bank’s contributions to the development of the country.
Speaking on the bank’s giant strides in the MSMEs space, Olu Akanmu, divisional head, retail, FCMB, said, “SMEs are the bedrock of any country’s economic development. It can hardly make good progress except the SMEs excel. Therefore, being a forward-looking bank with the appropriate desire for growth, we have decided to provide this sector with maximum support’. He reiterated the commitment of First City Monument Bank (FCMB) to support its customers who are operating in the SMEs space to overcome the challenges they usually face, especially at the take-off stage, “because we want to be part of their success story.’’
Akanmu advised SMEs to re-examine their operations and effectively position themselves to take advantage of the opportunities within the country.
Apart from training sessions organised for owners of SMEs, the bank has brought its professional expertise closer to the people by having dedicated loan officers at some of its branches nationwide. These officers are trained and equipped to provide SMEs with the best and most effective advice and support.
In addition, the Bank has established an empowerment programme, called Cluster Marketing, for operators of SMEs. The initiative was designed to enhance their financial, marketing and management skills.
In the same vein, FCMB has continued to aggressively support women managed businesses in line with the MSME fund scheme by collaborating with women involved in SMEs for the provision of funding, sponsorship and advisory services.
These interventions, the statement explained, are in line with the Bank’s value as a helpful bank committed to enhancing the growth and achievement of the personal and business aspirations of its customers and the nation in general.
According to him, “there are huge intervention funds from both government and multi-national agencies focused on supporting SMEs. Some are focused on helping with affordability, in other words reducing the cost of borrowing, while others are focused on accessibility, in other words helping to mitigate those risks that make small and medium scale businesses fail credit acceptance tests or requirements. Unfortunately, a good number of the outfits do not know the difference and therefore adopt the same strategy for accessing both. This will rarely work’’.
FCMB has a number of value-added offerings in the SMEs segment. These include the e-invoicing platform – a unique solution designed to help businesses monitor and control their cash management, especially as it affects payments, receivables, reconciliations and other financial transactions, through the internet and other mobile channels among others.
Given the current state of the nation’s economy, the need to effectively support micro, small and medium scale businesses and the informal sector generally should be faced with the highest level of commitment, by both the public and private sectors.
Acting President Yemi Osinbajo recently in Abuja flagged-off an MSME clinics across the nation in support of the sector.
The effort is structured to focus on finding a one-stop shop, which addresses different challenges confronting this critical sector. And the move is to bridge the information gap between the Authorities and MSMEs with the aim of encouraging small businesses to be more efficient and capable of competing at the global level.
Though many would say, let this charity begin at home whereby these small businesses are seen to have successfully taken-off properly, with some breath of life, competing among one another locally, the effort of the government should not be disregarded.
Championed by the Corporate Affairs Commission (CAC), with a number of government agencies such as, Nigerian Investment Promotion Council (NIPC), Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency (SMEDAN), FIRS, BOI, Customs, Ministry of Trade and Investment, among many others, these agencies are getting mobilised to ensure this agenda delivers its objectives. This strategic initiative is being organised in 21 cities across the six geo-political zones of the federation.
Iheanyi Nwachukwu
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