Osuagwu: Nigerian Businesses are Strategic Drivers of Economic Growth
Executive Director, Business and Commercial Clients, Stanbic IBTC Bank Plc, Remy Osuagwu speaks on the need for banks to understand clients and their business requirements to provide more appropriate solutions. Nume Ekeghe presents the excepts
Can you speak on how your bank supports businesses, especially at these times when SMEs are pivotal to Nigeria’s economic growth?
Stanbic IBTC provides broad-based client solutions to a spectrum of small and medium enterprises and large commercial businesses. Our client coverage support spreads across various business sectors, providing our clients with deep insights and financial services. Having partnered with enterprises for years, our approach to client relationships distinguishes us. As a forward-thinking organisation, we understand the vital role of Nigerian businesses as strategic drivers of economic growth, hence our continued provision of support to various establishments across the country. Beyond funding, we have actively provided financial advisory and capacity development to businesses and connected them to opportunities in their sectors over the years.
Can you briefly address the general issues affecting Nigerian businesses and the solutions your bank has proffered?
Nigeria is blessed with abundant natural and human resources but has several challenges that adversely affect businesses. For instance, the power situation is a critical factor. It accounts for a significant portion of the running cost of companies. Other challenges include inadequate infrastructure, lack of funding, high tariffs, and macroeconomic factors like the high inflation rate, currency devaluation and insecurity. Stanbic IBTC continues to partner with our clients in navigating these challenges by offering financial advisory, funding, and capacity building, among other solutions.
Recently, executives from Stanbic IBTC’s Business and Commercial Clients segment visited some clients across the nation. What is the rationale behind the visits?
As an institution that values its clients and prioritises partnership with them for the growth and progress of their businesses, the visits are not novel. They reflect our commitment to continuously stay close to them to deliver value to their work. We can feel their pulse directly and elicit their feedback around how their businesses are doing, challenges they are facing, areas for improvement in our partnership with them and so on. Such connection is invaluable and helps us serve our clients better.
Stanbic IBTC Bank has shown immense support to those in the manufacturing, processing and agro-allied industries. Are there plans to extend this support to other sectors?
Our clientele base cuts across industries such as domestic and international trade, agriculture, information & communication technology, healthcare, education, oil & gas manufacturing, emerging markets, and so on. We are extending our support to other industries, and based on a clear understanding of our client’s needs across industries, we come up with appropriate solutions in partnering with them for growth.
How important are SMEs to economic transformation?
SMEs are the bedrock of business ecosystems in any economy. They account for most businesses worldwide and immensely contribute to job creation and global economic development. In emerging markets like Nigeria, SMEs generate most jobs and account for a large part of the GDP. At Stanbic IBTC, we support SMEs in various ways, such as financial advisory, capacity building and convenient funding.
What should the small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) expect from Stanbic IBTC’s Business and Commercial Clients segment?
Stanbic IBTC’s Business and Commercial Clients (BCC) division is fully committed to supporting the expansion of SMEs. We cannot overemphasise the contribution of SMEs to the growth of Nigeria’s manufacturing sector and the country’s GDP. Asides from financing, we also deliberately contribute to their expansion through training and capacity-building sessions for entrepreneurs to empower them with knowledge and information for success. Based on the identified need for funding, we have introduced a financing solution that offers flexibility and convenience to our SME clients. Over 2,400 unique SME clients have benefited from this solution since it launched about a year ago.
Can you share some of your product offerings and how to access them?
We provide a comprehensive suite of transactional (i.e payments and collections), savings, investments, trade, foreign exchange, advisory and financing products, which are easily accessible through our diverse digital and physical channels. Our new and existing customers can always walk into any of our branches or visit our websites to access our array of products available for both individuals and corporate organisations.
