The Business Hub (TBH), Nigeria’s leading provider of business solutions and Sterling Bank’s platform for startups and growing businesses in the Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) ecosystem, celebrated a significant achievement as it concluded the inaugural cohort of its TBH Startrite Academy with a graduation and mini-exhibition event held in Lagos earlier this week.
This program, developed through a partnership between TBH and the German International Cooperation (GIZ), featured a standardized curriculum covering various topics aimed at equipping both new and existing entrepreneurs with the formal knowledge necessary to launch and structure their businesses. It provided participants with an intensive learning experience, combining virtual sessions with hands-on workshops conducted at The Business Hub Opebi in Ikeja, Lagos.
Ms. Bolanle Tyson, Head of SME Products at Sterling Bank, described the TBH Startrite Academy as a meticulously designed entrepreneurship program aimed at equipping participants with the essential knowledge, skills, and resources to bring their business ideas to fruition within a 30-day timeframe. Tyson emphasized that the training had empowered the graduating entrepreneurs to effectively kickstart their businesses and foster sustainable growth. She also expressed enthusiasm for replicating this success for more aspiring business owners, highlighting TBH’s commitment to supporting SMEs.
Recognizing the crucial role SMEs play in Nigeria’s economy—accounting for approximately 96 percent of employment and contributing 48 percent to the GDP—Tyson also acknowledged the challenges they encounter, including infrastructure deficiencies, limited access to finance, and the mingling of financial transactions with personal accounts, which hinders financial institutions’ ability to accurately assess their needs.
