L-R: Nnamdi Ezeigbo, Chief Executive Officer, SLOT Systems Limited; Aishah Ahmad, Head, Retail Banking, Diamond Bank Plc; Ogechi Chuma Otteh, CEO, One Centre Limited; and Nkem Okoro, Regional Manager, Festac Region, Diamond Bank Plc at the Diamond Bank 58th MSME BusinessxXpress Seminar held in Lagos recently
Diamond Bank Plc has urged entrepreneurs of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) to internalise the values of financial discipline and strict corporate financial management in the running of their respective companies, in order to sustain the rapid growth and development of the sector.
The Bank stated during its 58th Edition of the Diamond BusinessXpress Series in Lagos that the only way that MSMEs could scale the current economic headwinds, gain the confidence and active support of the financial services sub-sector, is to manage and grow the finances of their respective businesses by adhering strictly to high corporate standards.
Aisha Ahmad, Head, Retail Directorate of the Bank told MSME stakeholders at the event that financial stability and sustainable growth for entrepreneurs in MSME in the country is not achievable if standards of financial management is lowered, pointing that most MSMEs are likely to have chronic financial problems when personal financial discipline is relegated. .
“The BusinessXpress Seminar is the initiative of Diamond Bank Plc, which aims to cater for the business and financial well-being of our customers and indeed, interested players in the MSME sector of the economy…. Sustainable growth and development of the sector has a lot to do with the individual’s financial discipline and management of the businesses. When standard is not followed, problems are bound to come up and stifle the growth of the business.”
Drawing from their personal experiences, the resource persons took turns to shed light on the benefits of adhering to financial management principles and maintaining high standard of financial discipline.
The CEO of Slot Systems Limited, Nnamdi Ezeigbo, stated that building trust with target customers and business partners is a key factor in growing any business. According to him, adapting to the changing business environment and ensuring that the taste and demand of the customer is met, are very fundamental to sustainable business growth.
He said: “One of the factors that we took very seriously while growing the Slot brand was the adaptability factor and for us, this simply means understanding our market, our operating environment (the culture) and what exactly the consumers want at any particular time. You need to identify when consumers’ tastes change so as to address the attendant challenges.”
Reiterating Ezeigbo, Ogechi Chuma-Otteh, MD/CEO, One Centre Providence, stressed the importance of keeping a good working relationship with banking officers to enable easy access to useful information and financial products that would help in growing one’s business.
“Diamond Bank is an SME friendly bank. My banking officer is involved in my business and plays an advisory role when it comes to managing my finances. So if your bank is not doing anything to help grow your business, please I advise you, dump them.”
Adegboyega Adebajo, CEO West Atlantic Resources and Equity House (WARE House) Ltd, took participants through Nigeria’s business environment identifying crude oil sales, power sector reforms, stability of the new government and infrastructural development among others as the key drivers of Nigeria’s Gross domestic Product (GDP).
Other speakers at the event include Alexander Ibekwe, SME Segment Manager, MTN and Olusegun Sosimi, Assistant Director, Federal Inland Revenue Service (FIRS).
Diamond Bank has remained the leader in promoting MSME as the engine of sustainable growth and development in Nigeria’s economy. Among other numerous awards, the bank was awarded by the Nigeria-British Chamber of Commerce, the Best SME Friendly Bank in Nigeria in 2015 and the Best SME Bank in West Africa by the Banker Africa Magazine.
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