Ayodele Olalere
Winners have emerged in the Lagos edition of the Fidelity Small and Medium Enterprise (SME) Funding Connect with Yetunde Ayalowo winning the ultimate grant of N2 million.
The first and second runner-ups were rewarded with N1 milion each, making a total of N4 million grants.
The program tagged Entrepreneurship Meets Capital was designed to discover new entrepreneurs and give them financial support to further their dreams and idea. Three cities, Lagos, Port Harcourt and Kano State were to benefit from the programme.
Yetunde emerged winner out of the 2,500 participants. The participants were screened out of which 50 were selected and later pruned down to the best 12.
At the grand finale yesterday held at Landmark event centre, Oniru, five out of the 12 were selected and made to present their ideas to the audience. At the end, a panel of judges adjudged Yetunde to be the winner for her ‘Market Doctor’ idea and was rewarded with N2 million grant. However, there was wild jubilation when the Managing Director, Fidelity Bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, announced a reward of N500, 000 each for the 4th and 5th winners, and N200,000 each for the last 12 participants.
READ ALSO: Umahi swears-in 26 commissioners, 13 coordinators in Ebonyi
Speaking as the Keynote Speaker, the deputy governor of Lagos State, Dr. Obafemi Hamzat, lauded Fidelity bank for the initiative which has been running for 12years, promising that the state government under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu is also passionate about the growth of the small and medium business owners in the state.
“I would like to thank Fidelity Bank for doing this. It is important to understand the role of SMEs. SMEs play a big role in revitalisation of the economy through the creation of jobs.
“In the United States of America, the SMEs are about 28million and account for 28 per cent of jobs created there. SMEs allows big companies to survive.
“We must diversify our economy but lack of access to capital is the biggest threat to the survival of SMEs.
“Most times, they don’t have collaterals that banks request, likewise high-interest rates charged by banks. This programme highlights continuos need to have a clear path for SMEs to succeed.
“The SMEs provide vital platforms so it warrants adequate attention from all stakeholders.
“Therefore, Lagos State, under Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu, will create enabling environment that allows SMEs from being a mere sector to job creation,” he said.
In his speech, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank, Nnamdi Okonkwo, said the bank’s name was synonymous with SMEs, adding the bank has spent billions of naira to empower the small and medium enterprises.
“When people call Fidelity Bank, they call SMEs. We do not despise small beginnings, that is why we set out to support SMEs. When the Central Bank of Nigeria, CBN, started N200million fund, Fidelity bank was one of the banks to assess it.
“N9.6billion of Development Bank of Nigeria, DBN, funds to SMEs have been disbursed by Fidelity Bank, while African Development Bank, AFDB, has given $50 million for SMEs with the provision that 30 per cent of it should be given to women entrepreneurs.
“At Fidelity, we have gotten to this level because we support SMEs,” he said.