Heritage Bank, EDC explore emerging horizons for SMEs

The Heritage Bank and the Entrepreneurship Development Center of the Pan African University (PAU) have partnered to bring together top chief executive officers to discuss Emerging Horizons for Small and Medium Enterprises in the country.

The Chief Executive Officers among other things will discuss with SME operators on a variety of issues during the 9th EDC annual SME conference sponsored by Heritage Bank scheduled to hold next month in Lagos.

The CEOs scheduled to speak during the conference are Mary Akpabome (Executive Director, Heritage Bank), Pat Utomi (CEO Centre for Leadership),  Cosmos Maduka (Founder, President/ CEO Coscharis Group), Ifeyinwa Ighodalo (CEO Design Options), Emmanuel Ijewere (CEO Ijewere & Co), Raphael Afaedor (CEO Supermart), Olalekan Olude (Co-Founder Jobberman) and Victor Afolabi (CEO GDM).

Other speakers are Senator Babajide Omoworare (National Assembly)  Emeka Osuji (Pan –Atlantic University), Ebi Atawodi (GM Uber.com), Emeka Ezomike (Manager Tax Regulatory Services KPMG), and Daniel Oparison (Marketing Strategist Pagatech).

“Partnering with EDC to organize this conference is part of our efforts to help SMEs get better and bigger, which is one of the strategic objectives in our acquisition of Enterprise Bank”, said Heritage Bank Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, Ifie Sekibo.

“Each of these CEOs have proven track record in various business endervours which are nationally acclaimed. We believe that their testimonials will serve a big boost of inspiration for SME operators that would attend the conference”, he said

Over the years Heritage Bank has partnered with EDC and other organizations to help SMEs build competence, access new opportunities and develop necessary leadership skills required for success in the business world. These include the Heritage Bank SME Clinic, Heritage Governance Model, the Paris Club Credit  Scheme and the Enterprise Stories, a radio programme whichfocuses on stories of successful entrepreneurs. The sponsorship of the Annual EDC’ SME Conference is to complement these initiatives, which are aimed at promoting SME development in Nigeria.”

The SME Conference is a forum for members of EDC Business Network, and other SMEs alike to come together to learn, interact and share experiences. Last year, the conference with the theme “Model, Money and Market- Positioning Your Organization” brought together more than 500 people made up of SME owners, SME stakeholders, representatives of financial institutions. In the past 3 years, Heritage Bank has partnered with the centre on this annual event.

Heritage Bank, since inception in 2013, has been at the forefront of promoting SME development in the banking industry. To demonstrate its commitment to SMEs, the bank designed and offers an array of products and services based on the perceived and expressed needs of SME businesses.