FirstBank deepens financial awareness with media initiative

Barely a year after the commencement of the SME Radio programme titled “The Economy & You,”, First Bank of Nigeria Limited has empowered millions of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) across the nation.

Already, the programme has featured over 45 entrepreneurs from diverse backgrounds since its debut and broadcast live every Sunday at 6:15pm on Rhythm FM (Network) with a repeat broadcast streamed on the Enterprise Development Center (EDC) website www.edcradioonline.com.

The bank said the overarching objective is to educate, inform and build capacity for small business owners by providing them with the information and resources needed to grow their businesses.

FirstBank’s Deputy Managing Director, Gbenga Shobo, said the sponsorship of the programme is in sync with the bank’s strategy to build capacity among SME players and foster the growth and development of small and medium scale businesses in Nigeria.

“We are committed to providing practical help on relevant challenges faced by small businesses and SMEs will have an unrestricted access to the archived materials from ‘The Economy and You”, he said.

Other FirstBank’s interventions towards the growth of SMEs include African Start-Up on CNN, the sponsored TV documentary on CNN showcasing SME success stories across Africa; and SME toolkits in association with EDC of Pan-Atlantic University for empowering small businesses;

Others are Ignite- an afterschool graduate employability and enterprise training initiative); constant social media engagement; and the SMEConnect website, which is at the heart of all FirstBank’s SME activities.

The website www.firstbanknigeria.com/smeconnect also provides links to archival materials from the “The Economy and You” programme as well as other resource materials. It also serves as a channel to obtain feedback from customers and communicate the Bank’s products and services targeted at SMEs.