FirstBank Sponsors Sustainability Workshop for SMEs

Posted by African Examiner Business News, Latest Headlines Monday, August 10th, 2015

Nigeria’s most valuable bank brand, First Bank of Nigeria Limited, through its Sustainability Centre, FirstBank Sustainability Centre (FSC) has partnered with the Lagos Business School to host a Sustainability workshop for SME practitioners in Nigeria. The objective of the workshop is to drive home the need for SME entrepreneurs to embed sustainable practices into their operations.

The two-day workshop, scheduled to start today from 9am to 5pm daily, will hold at the Lagos Business School – Km 22, Lekki-Epe Expressway Ajah, Lagos. It is designed to enlighten participants that sustainability is not just about the environment, but an important step towards an efficient business model that reduces waste, cuts costs and increases profit. It will be a veritable platform to discuss how sustainable practices can improve SME practitioners’ bottom line as well as elaborate on ways to assess and implement more sustainable business methods. The workshop will also explore various funding options that support sustainability & innovation in small businesses.

FirstBank’s Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney, describes the workshop as one of the Bank’s initiatives that aim to engage and support the business enterprises of its stakeholders towards ensuring optimum performance. “We believe that SMEs are at the heart of national development, contributing greatly to the gross domestic product (GDP) of our country.”

“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”, she says.

The Sustainability workshops for SMEs is a Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability initiative of the FirstBank Sustainability Centre, established in collaboration with the Lagos Business School to create, disseminate and apply knowledge, build capacity and promote best practice in Sustainability in Nigeria.

About FirstBank

First Bank of Nigeria Limited, a subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, is Nigeria’s leading financial services institution by total assets and gross earnings and one of the largest corporate and retail banking financial institutions in sub-Saharan Africa (excluding South Africa). Since its establishment in 1894, the Bank has consistently built relationships with customers focusing on fundamentals of good corporate governance, strong liquidity, risk management and strong capitalization.

FirstBank operates an extensive distribution network with over 750 business locations (623 branches, 61 quick service points and 69 cash centers/agencies), over 2,464 ATM’s and over 9 million customer accounts. The Bank provides a comprehensive range of financial services and has international presence through its subsidiaries, FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank DR Congo, FBNBank Ghana, International Commercial Bank (ICB) The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal as well as its Representative Offices in Johannesburg, Beijing and Abu Dhabi.

FirstBank is the recipient of many awards. The Bank has been named “The Best Bank Brand in Nigeria” four times in a row – 2011, 2012, 2013, and 2014 – by the globally renowned “The Banker Magazine” of the Financial Times Group. FirstBank’s brand purpose is to always put its stakeholders, customers and partners at the heart of its business, even as it is poised to standardize customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across Sub Saharan Africa, in consonance with its brand vision “To be the partner of first choice in building your future”. The brand promise is to always deliver the ultimate “gold standard” of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on the FirstBank’s inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position its customers first in every respect.

For three consecutive years, 2012, 2013 and 2014, FirstBank was named the “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards. Other recent awards include the “Best Bank in Nigeria” in the Euromoney Awards for Excellence, “Best Bank in West Africa” and “Most Innovative Bank in Africa” in the African Banker Awards, “Best Bank in Nigeria” in the EMEA Finance African Banking Awards for the fourth time, “Best Foreign Exchange Services in Africa” in the EMEA Finance Treasury Services Awards, “Best Banking Group in Nigeria” by World Finance Banking Awards, and “Best Financial Reporting Company” by Africa Investor.

Signed

Folake Ani-Mumuney

Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications