Bank Adopts Strategy To Boost SMEs

Fortis Micro Finance Bank (MFB) is empowering small and medium entrepreneurs through a `Save and Win’ facility to boost their businesses.

Mr Jero Omare-Ogah, chief operating officer with the bank, told newsmen, recently in Abuja that the programme was designed to encourage customers and businesses to imbibe the culture of saving for rainy day.

He said that more than 50,000 of its small and medium entrepreneurs had been empowered under its micro-credit scheme in the Federal Capital Territory.

“The bedrock of every economy is the small and middle enterprises. But you find out that they have difficulty growing their businesses because they don’t know how to save the little extra money they make.

“So, we introduced a strategy where customers are rewarded with gifts and cash on the tenth of every month.

“This way, we can assist these customers grow apart from giving credit facilities because when the customers grow, the bank grows and when the bank grows, the economy grows,” he said.

Omare-Ogah said the programme would last for nine months and that a star prize of N100, 000 and other consolation prizes would be won monthly.

He said the grand draw prize of N1 million and brand new saloon car would be won at the end of the promo.

In 2012, Fortis MFB was listed on the floor of the Nigeria Stock Exchange, making it the second MFB listed out of the more than 900 MFBs licensed by the CBN.

Earlier in the year, the bank announced that it met the prescribed minimum capital requirement of N100 million to operate as a state MFB under the CBN revised guidelines for MFBs.