By Jeph Ajobaju, Chief Copy Editor
FirstSME account, which First Bank specifically created a year ago for Small and Medium Sized Enterprises (SMEs), the drivers of any economy, has been growing in leaps and bounds to support the sector for their sustenance.
The account, an industry leader unique to First Bank, is open to all legitimate SMEs to help grow their businesses at zero cost.
It was launched in August 2020 in 2 variants – FirstSMEClassic and FirstSME Deluxe – both of which target all non-individual entities, including
- Limited liability companies
- Public sector institutions
- Enterprises
- Sole proprietorships
- Partnerships
- Associations
- Religious bodies
- Traders
- Non-governmental organisations (NGOs)
The dedicated account reinforces the role of First Bank role in placing SMEs at an advantage, being the engine of growth and development everywhere in the world.
FirstSME Classic and FirstSME Deluxe both offer SMEs, irrespective of industry, a wide range of services and opportunities essential for their continuous growth and contribution to national development.
The features and advantages include
- Access to Temporary OverDrafts (TODs) and other facilities subject to meeting Risk Adjustment Capital (RAC) of each product
- Immediate enrollment on all digital platforms
- Free access to FirstBank SME events
- Free access to extensive business promotional and networking opportunities on the SMEConnect portal
- Access to a wide range of discounted and promotional offers
Benefits for FirstSME account holders
The benefits for holders of FirstSME account include
- SMEConnect – a platform through which SMEs access the bank’s unique propositions that equip with essential tools for the growth of their business.
- SMEConnect portal – helps SMEs identify gaps that hinder business growth.
- Business Diagnostics Tool – proffers tailored solutions and creates avenues for business improvement, profitability, and sustainability.
“First Bank is delighted to unlock several opportunities for SMEs to thrive. Our FirstSME account is one of the numerous opportunities designed to empower SMEs to continually drive impact as the backbone and contributors to employment and economic growth,” said First Bank Chief Executive Officer Adesola Adeduntan.
“Being woven into the fabric of the society for close to 127 years means that we remain at the forefront of providing the desired financial products and services to fit the needs unique to the SMEs as well as facilitating the requisite tools and resources to efficiently and effectively drive business sustainability and expansion strategies essential to taking SMEs to the next level.’’
Importance of SMEs
SMEs are the backbone of growth in all economies, developed and developing, where they pump creative energy into a variety of ventures in villages, towns, and in cities, and employ hundreds per firm.
SMEs are non-subsidiary independent firms whose number of employees ranges across countries from 200 to 250 to 500.
Small firms generally have fewer than 50 employees. Micro-enterprises have at most 10, or in some cases five, workers – as defined by the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Developed (OECD).
Big businesses, in technology, in oil, in agriculture, and in services may have billion dollar portfolios and employ thousands across countries and continents. They fly on their wings.
SMEs, however, walk on their feet to deal with the man and the woman on the street to supply their bread, eggs, milk, clothing, building materials, furniture, computers, telephone handsets, provide healthcare, and service their cars – everyday needs.
These are the sort of firms First Bank especially caters for in Nigeria because of their vital role in providing goods and services, as well as jobs, to support individuals, households, and bigger businesses – the pillars of the overall economy.
First Bank’s firsthand knowledge of SMEs
First Bank itself has 16,000 employees, the largest in the financial sector, but it knows firsthand the needs, the struggles, and the survival quest of SMEs because the bank deals with them daily as its contractors and corporate customers.
SMEs operate across all the value-chains in all sectors of every economy, providing goods and services without which individuals cannot meet their needs and bigger companies cannot operate, thrive, and make profit.
Nigerian SMEs are businesses of less than N100 million in annual turnover and employ fewer than 300 workers.
But their importance is stressed by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) which pitches greater customer access to facilities to stimulate economic growth.
This is what First Bank has done by creating SMEConnect, a platform that connects its more than 30 million customers served in over 750 business locations and over 130,000 Banking Agents spread across 99 per cent of the 774 councils in Nigeria.
First Bank also extends financial services, through subsidiaries, to over half a dozen countries across three continents – in London, Paris, Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra Leone, Senegal, and a Representative Office in Beijing.
Seven pillars of SMEs’ growth
Extensive research by First Bank shows that seven strategic pillars are essential to sustain and grow SMEs.
SMEConnect links SMEs to offerings covering financial and non-financial services built around seven key pillars to create a functional ecosystem for SMEs to thrive.
The seven pillars connect SMEs to:
• Capacity Building
Runs varying degrees of entrepreneurship programmes and activities through trainings, workshops, seminars, business clinics, and webinars.
• Finance
Provides direct and indirect funding for SMEs throughout the business life-cycle via grants, debt/loans and equity.
• Market
Connects SMEs with integration into large distribution networks by providing connection to facilitate trade, customers, distributor channels, suppliers, large corporates.
• Infrastructure
Connects SMEs to infrastructural resources such as technology, internet services, and workspace.
• Talent (for Business development)
Connects SMEs to a pool of professionals covering key areas such as accountants, lawyers, digital marketers, consultants, et cetera.
• Resources
Connect SMEs with to data, information, tools; that is, productivity tools, accounting tools, et cetera.
• Policy and Advocacy
Inform SMEs on government policies and how they impact SMEs.
SMEConnect portal
The First Bank website on SMEConnect (https://smeconnect.firstbanknigeria.com) shows the range of economic sectors covered on the scheme as
- Education/Training (311 business)
- Trade (462 businesses)
- Hospitality (105 businesses)
- Trade (223 businesses)
- ICT (341 businesses)
- Sports (20 businesses)
- Financial services (194 businesses)
- Food (147 businesses)
- Engineering/Construction (219 businesses)
- Oil & Gas (36 businesses)
- Manufacturing (223 business)
- Agriculture (455 businesses)
- Transportation/Logistics (120 businesses)
- Telecommunications (201 businesses)
- Health Care & Fitness (89 businesses)
- Fast Moving Consumer Goods (FMCG) (31 businesses)
- Media/Entertainment (143 businesses)
- Real Estate (93 businesses)
- Fashion/Beauty (175 businesses)
- Services (239 businesses)
The portal contains the names of companies in all the sectors and their telephone numbers and email addresses for contact with one another and with customers.
The blog section offers counsel on key areas of business such as
- 7 tips for Building and Maintaining Good Customer Relationship
- SME Business Longevity: remaining in business post COVID-19
- What is Market Share and How Does it Affect my Business
- How to Successfully Separate your Financial Business Account from your Personal
- Common Characteristics of Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
- This Social Media Thing, How Can My Business Gain From It?
- To Meet Or Not To Meet: 8 Ways To Detect And Avoid Unnecessary Meetings
- How Can A Nigerian Company Maximize Ethnic Diversity?
- Big Secrets Companies That Succeed At Online Marketing Pay Millions For
- 4 Ways To Empower Women In Your Organization
- 4 Things Your Brand Must Do To Survive In a Digital World
- HOW TO WRITE A WINNING BUSINESS PLAN – PART 1
- HOW TO WRITE A WINNING BUSINESS PLAN- PART 2
- You Will Kill Your Business Faster Than Your Competition
Uniqueness of SMEConnect
The unique selling proposition (USP) of SMEConnect is the congregation of value-adding products and services on one platform for easy access and at rates (prices) that are competitive and (in most cases) discounted.
SMEConnect has special features such as Business Diagnostic Tool that evaluates your business and gives you a business effectiveness score. It also tells you what you have done well and what you need to improve on.
Other features include blogs, e-newsletter, and useful webinar content.
Benefits of joining SMEConnect
- Free business advisory services through Business Diagnostic Tool
- Showcasing your products/services for free
- Interacting with your customers and other SMEs
- Discount on business development resources such as booking a business coach
- Connection to free capacity building workshops, seminars, and webinar
- Updates on policies and regulations impacting SMEs
SMEs can join the SMEConnect community by visiting https://smeconnect.firstbanknigeria.com/ to sign up for free.
Number of businesses on SMEConnect portal
There are 4,225 registered businesses on the platform; however, there are 20,880 users.
Pre-requisites for SMEs to be listed on the portal
Business must be registered and have a corporate account with FirstBank to list their business on the hub and access all the beneficial offerings on SMEConnect.
However, individuals and businesses can register to be users of SMEConnect without listing their business.
Industry spread of these businesses
SMEConnect is open to businesses operating across all sectors.
Businesses who wish to list their businesses on the hub – in addition to being registered and having a corporate account with First Bank – must accept the Terms and Conditions (T&Cs) of the platform.
Reasons for creating SMEConnect portal
Having banked SMEs for over 127 years, First Bank recognizes that SMEs need more than financial services to thrive and grow their businesses.
Based on its engagement with customers, internal and external surveys, and reports by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS), FirstBank observed that SMEs are plagued with challenges that impede their business growth.
The challenges include:
- Poor business structure
- Lack of infrastructure
- Poor market penetration
- Limited access to information and professional services
- Inconsistent government policies
These in turn affect their ability to access finance.
First Bank created SMEConnect to bridge the gap and connect SMEs to resources, products, and services that will enable them to overcome these challenges – with the seven pillars of our SME proposition (Capacity Building. Finance. Market. Resources. Infrastructure. Talent for Business Development. Policy and Advocacy).
SMEConnect links SMEs to these solutions from the comfort of their offices, homes, and wherever else they are in the world.
The uniqueness of the platform is that these offerings are either free or substantially discounted.
Overview of key discount offerings by partners
- Customers currently enjoy up to 34 per cent discount when they request for a business coach on SMEConnect (https://smeconnect.firstbanknigeria.com/offers/details/74/smetraction-package-i).
- First Bank Business Diagnostic Tool (https://firstbank.typeform.com/to/sYbWf0) analyses the business and advises on areas of strengths and improvement.
- First Bank corporate customers can advertise, display, and interact with customers for free.
Other offerings will be announced soon, according to the bank.
Contribution of SMEs to overall economy
In South Africa, SMEs account for 91 per cent of businesses, 60 per cent of employment and contribute 52 per cent of total Gross Domestic Product (GDP), according to a survey by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC).
In Nigeria, SMEs contribute 48 per cent of GDP, account for 96 per cent of businesses and 84 per cent of employment.
Despite the significant contribution of SMEs to the Nigerian economy, challenges still persist that hinder the growth and development of the sector.
NBS data shows that SMEs in Nigeria have contributed about 48 per cent of GDP in the past five years.
They are about 17.4 million. They account for about 50 per cent of industrial jobs and nearly 90 per cent of the manufacturing sector, in terms of number of enterprises.
Though significant growth has been achieved in the Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sector, there is still much to be done.
An article on Developing Africa through effective, socially responsible investing quoted on pwc.com/ng says “there still exists a ‘missing middle’, which finds it hard to access funds due to the category of funding they belong to.”
Other challenges encountered by the SME sector include lack of skilled manpower, multiplicity of taxes, and high cost of doing business.
A survey conducted by the NBS in collaboration with SMEDAN shows that SMEs can absorb up to 80 per cent of jobs, improve per capita income, increase value addition to raw materials supply, improve export earnings, expand capacity utilisation in key industries as well as grow the economy and GDP.
CBN focus on SMEs
A survey conducted by SMEDAN shows that Nigeria has 41.5 million SMEs of 2017, exceeding those in the United States.
“SMEs are critical to the development of any economy as they possess great potentials for employment generation, improvement of local technology, output diversification, development of indigenous entrepreneurship and forward integration with large-scale industries,” the CBN says on its website.
“In Nigeria, there has been gross under performance of the SMEs sub-sector and this has undermined its contribution to economic growth and development.
“The key issues affecting the SMEs in the country can be grouped into four namely: unfriendly business environment, poor funding, low managerial skills and lack of access to modern technology (FSS 2020 SME Sector Report, 2007).”
About First Bank
First Bank is the premier bank in West Africa and has been the leading financial inclusion services provider in Nigeria for more than 127 years.
It boasts over 750 business locations and over 130,000 Banking Agents spread across 99 per cent of the 774 councils in Nigeria, providing comprehensive retail and corporate financial services to more than 30 million customers.
It has international presence through its subsidiaries – FBN Bank (UK) Limited in London and Paris, FBNBank in the Republic of Congo, Ghana, The Gambia, Guinea, Sierra-Leone and Senegal, as well as a Representative Office in Beijing.
FirstBank promotes digital payment and has issued over 10 million cards, the first bank to achieve such a milestone in Nigeria.
Its cashless transaction drive has garnered 12 million people on its USSD Quick Banking Service through its *894# code and over 4.5 million on its FirstMobile platform.
Since its establishment in 1894, First Bank has built relationships with customers focusing on good corporate governance, strong liquidity, optimised risk management, and leadership.
It has for years led the financing of private investment in infrastructure in the Nigerian economy by playing key roles in government privatisation and commercialisation schemes.
It supports investors wishing to explore the vast business opportunities in Nigeria, as a competitive world-class brand and a credible financial partner.
Folake Ani-Mumuney, First Bank Group Head (Marketing & Corporate Communications), lists other accolades won by the bank to include:
- “Most Valuable Bank Brand in Nigeria” six times in a row (2011 – 2016) by The Banker Magazine of the Financial Times Group.
- “Best Retail Bank in Nigeria” for seven consecutive years (2011 – 2017) by the Asian Banker International Excellence in Retail Financial Services Awards.
- “Best Bank in Nigeria” by Global Finance for 15 years.
“Our brand purpose is always to put customers, partners and stakeholders at the heart of our business, even as we standardise customer experience and excellence in financial solutions across sub-Saharan Africa, in consonance with our brand vision ‘To be the partner of the first choice in building your future,’” she stresses.
“Our brand promise is always to deliver the ultimate ‘gold standard’ of value and excellence. This commitment is anchored on our inherent values of passion, partnership and people, to position You First in every respect.”
