Banks have crucial roles to play in ensuring that potentials of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) are harnessed by providing them with adequate funding, Stanbic IBTC Bank has said.
According to the lender, stakeholders need to deploy effective strategy, resources, planning and diligent execution to make SMEs a huge success.
Head, Business Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Anya Duroha, said the SME sector is key to the economic growth and development of any nation and Nigeria is no exception.
He spoke at the the Stanbic IBTC Bank 2016 SME Capacity Building Sessions which took place in eight cities across the country.
He said the need to support SMEs is more pronounced as government attempts to diversify the economy in the aftermath of declining revenue from oil due to plummeting prices.
He said the series was conceived two years ago to expose SME operators to modern and innovative marketing, financial, and management skills that are useful to their business operations and which will help them to attract the necessary funding for growth.
The Stanbic IBTC Group, Duroha explained, is backed by the rich heritage and know-how of the Standard Bank Group.
The bank is also committed to building a strong SME base in Nigeria and one of the ways it hopes to achieve this is by empowering operators with the right business skills and adequate funding.
The series were designed to contribute to the development of relevant expertise and priorities that would help SMEs flourish, enabling them to play their catalytic role in economic growth.
One of the biggest causes of small business failure is a lack of sound financial management, stated Eziukwu Princewill, Development Finance Strategist at Visionaries Nigeria Limited, who facilitated at the Abuja session.
“To stay in business, there should be vast and keen knowledge of the environmental indices and how they can affect the growth and sustainability of the business,” he said.
