NNB International Bank Plc has emerged as the Corporate Sponsor of the Fate Entrepreneurs Business Forum 2004, which would be held October 2004, at the Federal Palace Hotel, Victoria Island, Lagos. The programme is organized by the Fate Foundation, which has grown into a leading incubator for successful businesses nationwide.
The Managing Director of the bank, Mr. Alex Okoh, said that, “NNB International Bank Plc is pleased to support the Fate Entrepreneurs Business Forum 2004, which has, within a few years, risen to become a premium national entrepreneurship development programme”. Mr. Okoh commended the foundation for its pioneering efforts to develop and empower young and ambitious university graduates into very successful business owners within a short time.
According to the bank boss, the Fate Entrepreneurs Business Forum 2004 aligns with NNB’s strategic corporate goal to create value-added financial solutions to viable and well-organized businesses across the nation. He noted that, “the strength of any nation’s economy lies not just in its few multinational corporations, but more importantly in the thousands of thriving small and medium scale businesses which act as a solid foundation for sustainable economic growth”.
The theme for this year’s forum is “The Evolving Entrepreneur-Challenges and Solutions”. A large number of participants, drawn mainly from the Alumni of the Fate School of Entrepreneurship, are expected to attend the programme. The programme is designed not only to benefit them, but also to help to support the growth of the SME sector.
According to the organizers, “the very timely sponsorship and support provided by NNB International Bank will make this high-class executive forum affordable to hundreds of budding entrepreneurs across the nation”.
The forum offers its participants a unique opportunity to present their business ideas, expansion plans, and business challenges to consultants, business leaders, policy makers, fund managers, and other interested people who are positioned to assist the rapid development of the SME sector.
The focus of the two-day programme include business strategy formulation, managerial competence and leadership issues, access to financing, money management and accounting, advertising and marketing and customer service. Other areas to be addressed are human resources management, networking and negotiation skills, and legal matters.
The Fate Foundation has graduated over 450 entrepreneurs since inception, and over 65% of them have successfully started with average annual turnovers between N100,000 and N100 million. FATE recognizes the need to grow the SME sector as a means to developing the nation’s economy. According to its Executive Director, Mrs. Bunmi Lawson, “We are keenly committed to supporting the SME sector by building capacity amongst entrepreneurs as well as providing them with valuable networking opportunities through events like the Fate Entrepreneurs Business Forum”.
The four key services that FATE runs annually to develop and empower entrepreneurs are the FATE Aspiring Entrepreneurs Programme, the FATE Emerging Entrepreneurs Programme, the FATE Short Entrepreneurial Courses, and the FATE Alumni Business Support Services. Through these programmes, FATE has trained over 4,000 participants from inception till date. The Fate Foundation has also recently established a Corporate Office in Port-Harcourt that is targeted at bringing its services to support the large number of young school leavers, graduates, and unemployed adults in the Niger Delta.
Both Nigerian and international economic experts have identified the development of viable small and medium businesses as the best hope to solve the problems of unemployment and poverty in the country. Fate Foundation, a non-profit organization founded by Mr. Fola Adeola, has pledged to foster wealth creation in the nation by building entrepreneurs one at a time.
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