- Govt, Banks Urged to Support SMEs, Agric
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Bank, Mr Ifie Sekibo, has called on financial institutions and the three tiers of government to support agriculture and small and medium-scale businesses to tackle poverty in the country.
Sekibo said evidence had shown that countries supporting the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises had been successful in reducing poverty.
He was quoted in a statement as saying this on the sidelines of the just-concluded 24th Nigerian Economic Summit, which was co-sponsored by Heritage Bank and tagged ‘Poverty to prosperity: Making governance and Institutions work’.
According to him, there is more to be done by the government and financial institutions in the area of entrepreneurship because it is an agent of development.
Sekibo said, “We in Heritage Bank have been supporting various small-scale businesses, especially through our reality show, ‘The Next Titan’, which is driven by our faith to give young entrepreneurs the opportunity to contribute to the economic growth of the country.
“One of our major cardinal points as a bank is supporting micro, small and medium-scale businesses and our strong desire to see young men and women succeed in any area of their business. This will help the society and the economy to grow, thereby moving the nation from poverty to prosperity.”
According to him, one of the areas where government and financial institutions can move the nation from poverty to prosperity is through the development of agriculture.
