By 
Press Release
FirstBank Sustainability Centre has reinforced its commitment to promoting empowerment, entrepreneurship and financial inclusion amongst women through its sponsorship of a workshop for Women owners of SMEs in Nigeria. The event, which is the second in the series of workshop for women led SMEs is part of the FirstBank’s SMEConnect Series and it is scheduled to hold on April 23 and 24, 2015 at the FirstBank Sustainability Centre situated within the Lagos Business School, Lekki Lagos.
The workshop is designed to further equip women for enterprise development as well as assist in the transformation and expansion of women’s businesses into enterprises generating employment, economic benefits and social value. The event would offer a sustainable growth strategy for women-led SMES as well as teach the women to integrate financial success with societal and environmental advancement. Facilitators at the event will include Mrs. Ibukun Awosika, CEO, The Chair Center, Dr. Delia, Nzekwu, Sustainability Consultant and Mrs. Pauline Nsa, MD, FBN Microfinance Bank Limited. Other speakers are Mr. Valentine Ojumah, MD, FBN Insurance Limited, and Mr. Bayo Olugbemi, MD, First Registrars Limited.
In a statement by the Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Mrs. Folake Ani-Mumuney, SMEs are pivotal to economic development and this is why it is a major focus point in the Bank’s mass market segment. “We are keen on women economic empowerment and it is our desire to see businesses go beyond the narrow intent of profit-making to embed societal and environmental interests which would deliver long term growth. Women led SMEs in integrating a social dimension to their value proposition will make their businesses more sustainable than the ones run with conventional cost and quality gains”, she further stated.
