By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A healthcare provider that sets up clinics around clustered markets in the country, Market Doctor, has become the first winner of the competition organised for Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) by Fidelity Bank Plc, claiming the cash prize of N2 million.
Healthy Nellies, a food production firm, and Greenhill Recycling, emerged first and second runner up, respectively, going home with N1 million each.
Other finalists at the contest were Adeyinka Tekenah of ‘Happy Coffee’ and Olalekan Afolayan of ‘PackMyLoad.com’ who won N500,000 each, while the remaining seven shortlisted SMEs received N200,000 each.
At a ceremony held in Lagos to announce the winner, the independent judges led by Prof Yinka David-West of the Lagos Business School, said Market Doctor won the contest as a result of its profitability, viability, and scalability of its business model.
Speaking after being announced winner of the competition, founder of Market Doctor, Ms Yetunde Ayo-Oyalowo, said, “We are thrilled to receive this grant by Fidelity Bank to scale our business and improve the wellbeing of Nigerians.”
Chief Executive Officer of Fidelity Bank, Mr Nnamdi Okonkwo, while commenting on the event, explained that the bank came up with the initiative because of the importance of SMEs to the nation’s economy.
He commended the winners, charging them to graciously utilise the funds to nurture their businesses to greater heights.
Business Post reports that organisers of the competition received over 2,500 successful applications from small business owners. These applications then went through a rigorous and intensive selection process conducted by PricewaterhouseCoopers (PwC) before the emergence of 12 finalists, who were then pruned down to five.
Adedapo Adesanya 
Aduragbemi Omiyale