First Bank of Nigeria Limited (FirstBank) said it has identified poor funding as one of the biggest challenges facing micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs) in the country.
Head of SME Banking at FirstBank, Abiodun Famuyiwa, stated that the need to bridge the funding gap for MSMEs and support growth in the sector prompted the bank to lend over N200 billion to the sub-sector in 2024.
Speaking at the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) 2025 National MSMES Conference held in Lagos, Famuyiwa said: “One of the major problems MSMEs are confronted with, as we all know, is funding.
“We can’t shy away from it because they need money to be able to run their operations. And in this area, FirstBank has come in handy.”
The conference with ‘Grow Nigeria: Building a Future of Innovation, Resilience and Prosperity’ as the theme also focused on businesses, finance, technology and the creative economy.
Famuyiwa said: “I can tell you confidently that last year, we disbursed about N100 billion to businesses across diverse markets alone. Petty traders also got about N70 billion, not to mention businesses in other areas.”
Overall, FirstBank disbursed over 200 billion to small businesses in one year.
Describing the feat as remarkable, he said, “So, we are wholeheartedly supporting them, and these funds are mainly given to them without any collateral at all. We just look at the way they do their businesses and determine what they can actually afford.”
He further said that part of what the bank does is to look at the risk criteria of each SME to avoid lending beyond capacity.
“We do not want to give SMEs money that will put them into trouble. So, we try to assess their businesses and also ensure that we monitor the usage of that fund,” he said.
Famuyiwa said FirstBank has been directly involved in ensuring that SMEs move to the next level.
“We’ve organised different webinars, seminars for SMEs on how they can scale their businesses because growing businesses is not just about money alone. When the money is given to you, what do you do with it? How do you use that money effectively to be able to expand your business?”
