Diamond Bank Unveils Business Platform to Empower, Promote SMEs

By Dipo Olowookere

A platform to assist small business owners across the country has been introduced by Diamond Bank Plc.

Called SMEZONE, the digital platform based business arena gives room for Small and Medium-scale Enterprises (SME) in Nigeria to easily access relevant initiatives in the sector.

It further gives them the opportunity to network and be mentored with and by other entrepreneurs, attend webinars, receive newsletters and participate in competitions that ultimately help position their business for greater success.

Diamond Bank is Nigeria’s lead driver in the financial industry, providing enhanced customer experience through innovation and technology and regarded as supporter of SMEs through its lending, capacity building, business seminars and workshops.

Recently, the lender recorded a landmark figure in the value of funds disbursement of over N1 billion to small business owners under the cash flow-based SME lending scheme in partnership with the Women’s World Banking (WWB), and this has earned the leading financial institution ranked among the first five SME customer bank in Nigeria in the KPMG customer service survey 2018.

Commenting on the innovation, Head, Corporate Communications, Diamond Bank Plc, Ms Chioma Afe, explained that, “The essence of developing this digital business platform is to give our esteemed SME customers an advantage in the competitive of business world that is accessible anywhere & anytime.

“It is vital that this integral sector of the economy gets all the support it needs to drive growth and development. Digital platforms are widely acknowledged as powerful tools for fully enhancing business possibilities as they open a world of opportunities to customers and vice versa irrespective or location.”

Ms Chioma noted that Diamond Bank has been at the forefront of innovation within the SME space in Nigerian, adding that some of these include the introduction of financial advisory packages such as monthly seminars, workshops, business clinics and trainings in partnership with reputable knowledge hub online platforms, educational institutions and SME business development consultants.