By Omodele Adigun

Beneficiaries of the maiden Wema SME Business School by Wema Bank, have commended the novel and impactful initiative, disclosing they have gained immensely from it.

The Wema SME Business School, another first from the bank 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 held between August 16 – 20 at Sheraton Hotel Ikeja, Lagos featured 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 among the facilitators at the Business School.

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Two beneficiaries, Emmanuel Elo-Irawo and Adesuwa Oguocha, commended Wema Bank for the initiative, expressing what they had  gained from the Business 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 at 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, with 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.