First bank has yet again made good on its pledge to support small and medium scale enterprise in Nigeria as part of its corporate responsibility initiative through its sustainability centre, by partnering with the Lagos Business School to organize a two-day workshop for SMEs in Nigeria to create, disseminate and apply knowledge, build capacity and promote best practice in sustainability in Nigeria.
The workshop which is slated for 9am-5pm everyday commenced on the 11th of August 2015 at the Lagos Business School-Km 22, lekki-Epe Expressway Ajah, Lagos. The workshop will focus on emphasizing the importance of embedding sustainable practice into the management and structuring of SMEs.
Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank’s Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications speaking on the importance of the workshop describes the workshop as one of First Bank’s numerous efforts to support the business enterprises of its stakeholders. She goes on to state that First Bank believes that SMEs are at the heart of national development as they contribute in no small way to the gross domestic product (GDP) of the country.
Speaking further Mrs Folake Ani-Mumuney says that; “As Nigeria’s leading SME bank, we are focused on empowering SMEs and SME entrepreneurs towards capacity building and development to contribute to the growth of our economy in providing employment to people, adding to our GDP and repositioning the national economy for sustained growth”.
The workshop is expected to help SMEs explore ways to access funding for business operations, support sustainability and innovation in small businesses, establish an efficient business model that will reduce waste, cut cost while simultaneously increasing profit.