FirstBank Empowers SMEs Eith AI-Driven Growth Strategies, Hosts SMEConnect Webinar (How To Register)

<h4>FirstBank Empowers SMEs Eith AI-Driven Growth Strategies<&sol;h4>&NewLine;<p>&nbsp&semi;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p><strong><a href&equals;"https&colon;&sol;&sol;openlife&period;ng&sol;">OpenLife<&sol;a><&sol;strong> reports that FirstBank&comma; West Africa’s premier financial institution and financial inclusion services provider&comma; is pleased to announce the upcoming edition of the SMEConnect Webinar scheduled to hold on Tuesday&comma; 31 March 2026&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The event will equip small and medium-sized enterprises &lpar;SMEs&rpar; with the knowledge and tools to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence &lpar;AI&rpar; for business growth&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>This edition is strategically curated to inform and educate SMEs on how AI can be applied to scale their businesses in today’s rapidly evolving digital economy&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The chosen theme&comma; &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;AI for Business Growth&colon; From Adoption to Integration and Scalable Impact&comma;” reflects the growing importance and timeliness of AI as one of the most influential trends shaping the SME business landscape&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The session will provide SMEs with actionable insights on how to leverage AI to enhance productivity&comma; streamline operations&comma; strengthen customer engagement&comma; and make smarter&comma; data-driven decisions&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The SMEConnect webinar will feature experts&comma; including Temitope Odude&comma; Senior AI Solutions Architect at Microsoft as a guest speaker&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Odude will provide credible and globally relevant perspectives on how SMEs can successfully adopt and integrate AI into their everyday business operations&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Other speakers include Abednego Ugwueke&comma; Head of Digital Channels and Ibidun Adedewe&comma; Head of SME Acquisition &amp&semi; Partnerships at FirstBank&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Speaking ahead of the event&comma; Chuma Ezirim&comma; Group Executive&comma; e-Business and Retail Products at FirstBank&comma; said &OpenCurlyDoubleQuote;SMEs are the backbone of the Nigerian economy&comma; and at FirstBank&comma; we recognise that the economy cannot thrive without them&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>As a committed growth partner to SMEs&comma; this session reinforces our strong focus on innovation&comma; demonstrated through initiatives such as the use of AI‑enabled credit scoring to deliver fast&comma; instant loans to micro‑SMEs&comma; with over ₦1 trillion disbursed to support customers’ financial needs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>Building on this foundation&comma; we are equipping business owners with the right knowledge and practical insights on Artificial Intelligence to help them scale in the short term and drive sustainable growth&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>I encourage every business owner to participate in this session to gain hands‑on guidance on integrating AI into everyday business operations&period;”<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>SME owners and entrepreneurs can register for the webinar at https&colon;&sol;&sol;firstbanknigeria&period;zoom&period;us&sol;webinar&sol;register&sol;WN&lowbar;cUr1LhWFQXymTqWtONOOVg<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>SMEConnect Webinar series is one of FirstBank’s signature platforms for supporting SMEs with practical knowledge and strategic insights&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Bank has consistently won awards for impacting businesses and for providing innovative solutions for customers and other stakeholders&comma; including SMEs&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Bank was named Best SME Bank in Nigeria and Best SME Bank in Africa by TAB Global Excellence in Retail Finance Awards for 2 years as at 2025&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;<p>The Bank also won the SME Financier of the Year- Nigeria awarded by The Digital Banker&period;<&sol;p>&NewLine;