Keystone Bank Limited has said it is partnering the Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry to provide business consultancy services for the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in Lagos State to help small businesses grow.
A statement quoted the Group Head, MSME & Value Chain Management of Keystone Bank, Helen Nwelle, as giving the indication at the launch of a programme in Lagos and assured the chamber of the bank’s steady support.
She spoke in Lagos at the launch of the inaugural edition of the LCCI’s annual SME Support Centre.
She stated, “Keystone Bank is an SME-centric bank focused on delivering tailored MSME value offerings and that has continually spurred our involvement in programmes such as these.
“The SMEs are the bedrock of our economy and the LCCI SME Support Centre will provide a platform where the SMEs can meet seasoned consultants who will offer advisory services in areas of book keeping, capacity building, branding and digital marketing, to enable them to remain competitive in the current business climate.”
Citing SMEDAN’s latest report, Nwelle said, “About 99 per cent of the SMEs are in the micro sector, which means a lot of them are unstructured, making it difficult for them to access finance from banks and other funders.
“Therefore, this initiative will help empower the SMEs with the needed skills for book keeping and cash flow analysis to aid finance readiness.”
According to a statement from the LCCI, the programme has the objective of introducing business consultancy services to the MSMEs as part of efforts to boost businesses of entrepreneurs in Lagos State and by extension, the rest of Nigeria.
