Stanbic IBTC Partners FATE Foundation to Train 2,000 SMEs

Dike Onwuamaeze

The Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, in partnership with the FATE Foundation, has trained 2,000 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria through its SME Capacity Building Program.

The training of SMEs is in line with the Stanbic IBTC’s mandate of driving business growth and building capacities to create successful enterprises in the country.

The Head, Enterprise Banking (SME) Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr. Nnaemeka Obasi, stated that the bank created the capacity building program to support business owners across Nigeria because it regarded the SMEs as the engine rooms for economic development.

Obasi said: “At Stanbic IBTC, we recognise the importance of SMEs to the nation’s economy. The Stanbic IBTC SME Capacity Building Program is aimed at equipping SMEs with the skills and competencies to build sound and viable businesses, improve their capacity to access available credit, and enhance their ability for efficient funds utilisation.”

“The program was created to educate various business owners across various sectors. Each course had 10 modules, and each module had video lessons, graded quizzes, and downloadable workbooks.”  

He noted that the capacity building sessions were designed to enlighten and empower the entrepreneurs, adding that the financial institution implemented the capacity building program for individuals through online training and advisory sessions to enable business growth in the SME sector.

According to him, “SMEs are recognised as the main engine for growth and development because of their significant contributions to the nation’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP). It is not in doubt that many developed countries that enjoy a growing and booming economy today, attribute most of their achievements to a flourishing SME sector.