Fidelity Bank to Convene Lagos Entrepreneurs on Sustainable Business Growth

Fidelity Bank Plc is set to bring together entrepreneurs, industry experts and key stakeholders in Lagos for the latest edition of its Quarterly Business Forum, an initiative aimed at equipping businesses with practical strategies to enhance competitiveness and achieve sustainable growth.

The forum, themed “Built to Compete: Positioning Lagos Businesses for Sustainable Growth,” will examine opportunities and challenges confronting businesses in Nigeria’s commercial hub, with discussions expected to focus on access to finance, market expansion, innovation, digital transformation and strategies for building resilient enterprises.

The event forms part of the bank’s broader efforts to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through capacity building, business advisory services, tailored financing and platforms that encourage knowledge sharing among entrepreneurs and industry leaders.

Speaking ahead of the forum, Ugochi E. Osinigwe, Divisional Head, SME Banking at Fidelity Bank Plc, said the initiative would provide an opportunity for the bank to engage directly with business owners, understand their challenges and explore practical solutions to their needs.

According to her, access to capital alone is insufficient to guarantee business success, stressing the importance of knowledge, effective structures, professional networks and appropriate growth strategies in helping enterprises remain competitive.

“Businesses need more than capital to thrive. They require knowledge, structure, networks and the right strategies to compete and grow sustainably. Through the Quarterly Business Forum, we are creating a platform for entrepreneurs to learn from experienced business leaders, exchange insights and identify practical opportunities to strengthen their businesses,” Osinigwe said.

She noted that the forum was designed to facilitate meaningful engagement between entrepreneurs and experienced industry professionals, enabling participants to gain insights that could help them improve their operations, explore new markets and respond more effectively to changing business conditions.

For businesses operating in Lagos, where competition cuts across multiple sectors and the cost of doing business remains a significant consideration, the forum is expected to provide a platform for examining ways to improve productivity, adopt innovative solutions and build sustainable business models.

Beyond financing, SMEs frequently require guidance on pricing, business formalisation, customer acquisition, digital adoption and access to wider markets. These issues have become increasingly important as businesses seek to strengthen their operations, respond to evolving consumer demands and take advantage of emerging commercial opportunities.

Fidelity Bank said the Quarterly Business Forum builds on its existing SME-focused initiatives, which include masterclasses and advisory programmes covering pricing strategies, digital growth, business structure, trade and market expansion.

Through these initiatives, the bank seeks to help entrepreneurs develop the managerial and technical capabilities required to translate business ideas into viable enterprises, while improving their capacity to compete in increasingly demanding markets.

The Quarterly Business Forum was established as a strategic engagement platform connecting entrepreneurs, business leaders, policymakers and industry experts to exchange ideas and share practical knowledge on business growth, innovation and sustainability.

Its focus on sustainable growth reflects the importance of strengthening SMEs as contributors to employment generation, economic activity and enterprise development. By providing opportunities for entrepreneurs to learn from experienced practitioners and engage with other stakeholders, the initiative also seeks to encourage collaboration and the exchange of ideas across business sectors.

Fidelity Bank’s SME support strategy combines financing with capacity development and advisory services, recognising that businesses require more than access to credit to achieve long-term stability and expansion.

The bank said its approach includes providing tailored financial solutions alongside programmes designed to improve entrepreneurs’ business knowledge, operational efficiency and readiness to explore new commercial opportunities.

Fidelity Bank Plc is a full-fledged commercial deposit money bank serving more than 10 million customers through digital banking channels and its 255 business offices in Nigeria, as well as its United Kingdom subsidiary, FidBank UK Limited.

The bank has received several local and international awards in recognition of its activities across banking, SME support, trade finance, retail banking and community empowerment.

Among its recognitions are the 2025 Development Bank of Nigeria Innovation Award for MSME support and the Best Retail and SME Bank Award from Independent Newspapers.

It also received the Best Bank for Export and Trade Finance and Most Innovative Bank of the Year awards at the 2025 BusinessDay Banks and Financial Institutions Awards, alongside Nigeria’s Best Private Bank award at the 2025 Euromoney Awards.

Other recognitions include the inaugural Most Improved Commercial Bank of the Year award from Nairametrics, the SME Bank of the Year award from NewsDirect and the Straight-Through Processing Excellence Award from Citi Group.

The bank has also been recognised by Global Brands Magazine for Excellence in Community Empowerment.

With the Lagos edition of its Quarterly Business Forum, Fidelity Bank is seeking to deepen engagement with entrepreneurs and reinforce its support for businesses looking to strengthen their competitiveness, expand their markets and establish a foundation for sustainable growth.