FCMB commits to poverty alleviation as 3,000 women micro enterprises access loans  

First City Monument Bank Limited (FCMB) has set-up a goal of taking at least one million Nigerians out of poverty between now and 2025. The bank said over 20,000 Nigerians have already benefited from this initiative with about 3,000 women micro enterprises and women benefiting from FCMB loans every month.

In addition, the bank said its free eye surgeries and medi-care have recorded well over 10,000 beneficiaries across the nation over the years.

Ladi Balogun, Group Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, First City Monument Bank Limited said, “It is an integral part of our business to make sure that we contribute positively to the community. Throughout the country, we seek to have an impact in many different locations, because we believe that it is important for an organization to have consistent and measurable positive impact on the society with the things that we do. For us, CSR is not a PR tool, but an important vehicle that enables us have real impact on people’s lives – impact that we can measure in terms of the number of lives we have improved”.

FCMB Limited has kicked-off a capacity building programme for youths in Lagos tagged, “Empowered for the Future (E4F)”, as part of its commitment towards youth empowerment and sustainable economic growth.

The initiative is a 12-month peer-to-peer economic empowerment, sexual and reproductive health promotion project for in- and out-of-school adolescents. It is in line with the bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) agenda, which focuses on poverty alleviation, economic empowerment and environmental sustainability.

The financial institution is organising this in partnership with a Nigeria-based Non-Governmental Organisation (NGO), Youth Empowerment Foundation (YEF).

The programme commenced in August with a week-long training session held at Eric Moore Senior Secondary School, Surulere, Lagos.

The exercise involved about 50 youths who were trained on various aspects of human development. The beneficiaries are expected to reach out to 750 peers over a one year period, with focus on financial literacy, skill acquisition, sexual and reproductive health, while undergoing vocational training, job shadowing and knowledge building programmes.

Speaking to the media on the initiative, the Group Head, Corporate Affairs, FCMB, Diran Olojo said, “the Empowered for the Future (E4F) programme is designed to harness the skills of youths, enhance their employability and income generation capabilities in order to improve their present and future economic status. An initiative such as this is especially important, given the current challenging economic climate’’.

He added that, “as a responsive and helpful corporate institution, we are using the platform provided by this programme to effectively empower youths and help them achieve their aspirations. We are glad to provide this support which will hopefully go a long way in helping these young Nigerians find their feet in business and other human endeavours’’.

Over the years, FCMB has consistently provided support and economically empowered youths as well as women across Nigeria. The Bank has at various times sponsored planting of trees and campaign against desertification in some states in the North including Kano, Kastina and Sokoto States.

Balogun further stated that the Bank’s aim is to try and empower those who are otherwise excluded from the economic growth. This is particularly relevant at this point in time, as over the last few years, income inequality and the need to deliver inclusive growth has been highlighted around the world.