Banking Briefs
STERLING Bank Plc has reiterated its commitment to the empowerment of small and medium scale enterprises, SMEs, particularly those in the food sector. Daphne Akatugba, marketing manager, specialised products, Sterling Bank, said the idea was for the SMEs to further exploit the potential in the industry and contribute to the development of Nigeria.
Akatugba, who disclosed this at the sixth edition of the Eat Drink Festival in Abuja recently, said the bank plans to work with SMEs in their early stages of growth by giving financial advisory and support for growth. She said the bank believes that by working with the SMEs at the developing stage, they (the SMEs) will continue to partner with the bank when they eventually become big business concerns.
“The Eat Drink Festival gives small businesses the platform to reach other people. A lot of these businesses do not have physical structures, but they are running them from their homes, sometimes they are online businesses. But at this event, customers can interact with the business owners, taste what is on offer and get to meet new people.
“So, this festival is a platform for small businesses in the food and drink industry to expand and also do better for their businesses. For a lot of businesses, one of the major things they need is access to markets and that is what the festival is doing because if you don’t have customers, you don’t have the business and your location doesn’t matter,” she said.
According to Akatugba, the bank can finance a small business whether it has a physical structure or not. “They can get financing and we also provide financial advisory services. This event helps us to reach out to these businesses and grow with them. Our target is that you increase your revenue and you form a working relationship with us so that we can grow together.”
She explained that participation in the festival affords the bank the opportunity to assess the requirements of businesses in order to properly support them, adding that the bank’s intervention has positive implications for both SMEs and the economy in general. She noted that the economy grows when businesses make money, adding that it is equally true that when businesses don’t make money, the economy does not grow. She said the bank has a duty to ensure that the businesses make money.
Akatugba said the bank plans to take the festival beyond Lagos and Abuja to other parts of the country to give opportunities to other fledgling businesses in need of the bank’s support to grow. She said the bank’s support programmes for SMEs cut across various sectors of the economy.
– June 21, 2018 @ 19:25 GMT |
Tags: Sterling Bank reiterates commitment to SMEs in food sector
