River State government has commended Heritage Bank for its role in enhancing youth entrepreneurship development and engendering self-employment through its various initiatives and products.
The government lauded the bank’s effort to lead the recovery of the Nigerian economy via schemes such as the administering and management of the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N3Billion Youth Innovative Entrepreneurship Development Programme (YIEDP) and its partnership with the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL), which recently graduated 100 young entrepreneurs in the CVL Young Entrepreneurship Training Programme (YETP).
The Deputy Governor of Rivers State, Dr. Ipalibo Banigo stated this at the one-day Leadership, Entrepreneurship and Development (LEAD) Summit, hosted by the Rivers State Sustainable Development Agency (RSSDA) in partnership with the Second Opportunity Africa Foundation and Heritage Bank Plc.
Speaking on the summit, titled, “Youths Leading Entrepreneurs in Non-Oil Economy,” Banigo said Heritage Bank has shown good faith to the youths which goes on to portray the welcoming nature of the Rivers man personified in the person of their son, ”Ifie Sekibo.”
Meanwhile, the wife of the Governor, Justice Suzzette Nyesom-Wike affirmed that the LEAD Summit was the first of its kind in the state, while commending the bank for its supports to Nigerian youths.
The MD/CEO of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo, who was represented by the General Manager, South Bank, Davidson Regha said that the drive to continue in the support of youths was to create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations.
He explained that the entrepreneur schemes of the bank in the support for business had always focused on dependable job-creating sectors, such as agricultural value chain (fish farming, poultry, snail farming), cottage industry, mining and solid minerals, creative industry (tourism, arts and crafts), and Information and Communications Technology (ICT).
Sekibo, restated that the aim of Heritage Bank being in the forefront of youth empowerment is to emancipate the latent entrepreneurial spirit in the teeming youths, by providing adequate and affordable loans to execute their business ideas and, hopefully, migrate them to successful Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), thereby, providing the mechanism of stimulating growth, reducing unemployment as well as addressing youth restiveness in the economy.
He, however, stated that young entrepreneurs who have been trained in various skills such as catering, bead making, event management, fashion design, arts, hair dressing, shoe cobbling among others have also imbibed comprehensive business management and entrepreneurship skills that would equip them to be successful business owners.
Sekibo added that “the bank’s passionate interest in the programme also arises from the fact that the initiative aligns very much with the vision of the bank, which is to help partners create, preserve and transfer wealth across generations.”