Stanbic IBTC trains SMEs in Lagos

In bid to improve capacity of small and medium enterprises (SMEs) to build and grow their businesses and the economy, Stanbic IBTC Bank has held a capacity building training for them in Lagos.

Head, Enterprise Banking, Stanbic IBTC, Babatunde Akindele, told journalists that the essence of the training was to impact skills on owners of small businesses to create employment, stimulate the economy and increase the impact of SMEs on the economy.

“SMEs are the livewire of any economy. So the idea is that the better our SMEs become, the better their impact on the economy and the more growth we will experience.

“It is a priority and that is why we are training people who are new in the business and those who have been in the business for a while.“We have different roles in the economy but impacting business skills on small and medium businesses is something we can do and it’s something we are doing right here today,” he said.

Akindele added that the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recognises that there was the need to find ways to work on interest rates for SMEs, which have given rise to a number of intervention funds like the SMEs Fund.

“The Federal Government has provided funding to banks to lend to SMEs at much lower interest rates and a lot of SMEs are already accessing the funds. All lending comes with criteria and that is part of why we are here to better understand the principles of business to better meeting those criteria,” he added.