First City Monument Bank (FCMB), one of the Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) in Nigeria has been commended for its consistency in supporting the growth of Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) in Nigeria.
The bank received mentions and certificates in two award categories – ‘SME Financier of the Year’ and ‘Best Bank for Women Entrepreneurs’ – at the Global SME Finance Summit and Awards 2021 organised by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in the United States.
The IFC stated that the honourable mention of FCMB in the ‘SME Financier of the Year’ award category was in recognition of the Bank’s outstanding service to businesses operating in International Development Association (IDA) countries and fragile and conflict-affected situations.”
In addition, in the ‘Best Bank for Women Entrepreneurs’ category, the bank was commended for offering exceptional services, including funding and capacity building, to women-owned businesses. Endorsed by G20’s Global Partnership for Financial Inclusion (GPFI) and the SME Finance Forum, the Global SME Finance Awards was launched in 2018.
It celebrates the outstanding achievements of financial institutions and fintech companies in delivering exceptional products and services to their SME clients that have achieved impressive results. Speaking on this year’s summit and awards, the chief executive officer of the Forum, Mr. Matthew Gamser, said: “Every year we see more and more impressive institutions doing incredible things to help improve SMEs’ access to finance.
“We see great innovations; we see new opportunities for redressing past imbalances due to gender, age and other inequities, and we see new ways to put the customer first and ensure that financing is responsible and truly beneficial. The 2021 competition brings us more of the same – bigger innovations, bigger achievements, and bigger potential.”
