Beneficiaries of the maiden Wema Bank SME Business School have commended the novel and impactful initiative, disclosing that they have gained immensely from it.
The Wema SME Business School equipped Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises with the basic management knowledge required to effectively run their businesses and respond to challenges in an ever-demanding business environment.
The five-day free training programme was held recently in Lagos featuring 50 participants. They were trained using a robust curriculum spanning the broad areas of finance, marketing and sales, leadership, technology, branding, strategy, innovation and business transformation.
Nigerian and international consultants from the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management Germany, Ernst & Young, Matt Anthony Consulting, IBFC Alliance, and Kuhl-Cher were part of the facilitators at the Business School.
Two beneficiaries, Emmanuel Elo-Irawo and Adesuwa Oguocha, commended Wema Bank for the initiative, expressing what they had gained immensely from the school.
Elo-Irawo, who operates a frozen fish chain, said: “They blew my mind because I wasn’t expecting much. I thought it was a forum where they would gather us and give us one or two pieces of information. The sessions have been very revealing, and I now have more knowledge of how to run my business. There is no way Nigeria will develop without trainings like this, and I am very pleased to be part of it.”
Oguocha, Creative Director, Suwa Couture, described the sessions as “awesome.” Her words: “I am at a stage where I need to scale, and I want to get things right. So far, it has been expository. It’s been explosive. Yesterday alone, the quality of what we learnt, I have already started taking mental and written decisions concerning my business.
“The good thing about this training is that it is practical. You have room to air your concerns and get clarifications. My advice to anyone who isn’t here is to try to apply for the next cohort. It’s worth your time.”
Commenting on the training, Head, Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), Wema Bank, Arthur Nkemeh, assured that the institution would not relent to help MSMEs scale and grow their businesses.
He added that the business school was not just for its customers but for all Nigerian SMEs.
“For us, it is not just about our customers. It is about our passion in supporting and developing SMEs, creating employment, and impacting the economy. SMEs consist of about 90 per cent of the businesses in the country and they are the highest employer of labour. If we continue to support MSMEs to grow their businesses and scale, they will create more employment and impact the entire ecosystem,” Nkemeh said.
