Stanbic IBTC partners Google on SMEs, youth digital inclusion

In other for youths and operators in the small and medium scale enterprises (SMEs) in the country to acquire digital skills for economic advancement, Stanbic IBTC Bank, a member of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc and Google, have sealed a deal on digital inclusion.

The deal, National Daily gathered will facilitate capacity building for SMEs in Nigeria, help entrepreneurs accelerate their businesses, support digital education initiatives geared towards job creation as well as address the key challenges that SMEs face in growing their businesses.

The training session expected to commence on July 19, 2016 in Lagos and Kaduna and seven other States later hope to build a critical mass of businesses through increased adoption of digital technology and enhance their contribution to economic development.

Head, SME Banking, Stanbic IBTC Bank, ObinniaUkachukwu, stated that the collaboration fits into the institution’s goal of fostering economic empowerment through strategic interventions that enable individuals and businesses realize their aspirations.

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He said it was in pursuit of this objective that the Stanbic IBTC Bank organizes several capacity-building initiatives spanning various sectors of the economy, transport and logistics, trade and finance, in an on-going basis to support individuals and businesses.

“We are quite pleased to partner with Google on this strategic initiative. Our ultimate goal is to cause, in the long term, an exponential growth in the digital technology space, knowing that this is the path to the future, with the youth and SMEs as the main anchors.”

Head of Digital Education, Google Africa, Bunmi Banjo, said: “We’re happy to be collaborating with Stanbic IBTC Bank to provide free digital trainings to local entrepreneurs.

With over 97 million online subscribers, Nigeria continues to be one of the highest online populations in the world. And this presents big opportunities for the Small and Medium Business sector. We believe that when these SMEs have the right digital skills, they can better leverage the Internet to grow their businesses, create more jobs and boost economic growth in Nigeria.”