Heritage Bank MD explains support for young entrepreneurs

IN its continued effort to create and preserve wealth andcurb unemployment among youths, Heritage Bank Plc in partnership with the Centre for Values in Leadership (CVL) has graduated 100 young entrepreneurs inthe CVL Young Entrepreneurship Training Programme (YETP) in Ajegunle, Lagos.The CVL is aimed at identifying young people, especiallyyouths in densely populated communities and putting them through a full year of training in small business management.

These young entrepreneurs who have beentrained in various skills such as catering, bead making, event management, fashion design, arts, hair dressing, shoe cobbling among others have alsoimbibed comprehensive business management and entrepreneurship skills thatwould equip them to be successful business owners. Speaking at the event.

The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Heritage Bank, Ifie Sekibo, expressed appreciation to the founder of CVL, Professor Pat Utomi, for the initiative and implored thegraduands to reciprocate by making the best of theopportunity.

In his words, “we are attracted to CVL because we seek how we canharness entrepreneurial skills of people, reduce unemployment and fosterdevelopment of communities, like the Ajegunle community. We are delighted withthe mechanics of this program and we recognise the strategic importance andimpact of successful businesses could have on young entrepreneurs and thesociety, which is why we provide funds for start-ups.”

As a way of showing Heritage Bank’s commitment to theinitiative, the Managing Director, who was represented by the Divisional Head, Corporate Banking, Heritage Bank, Apapa Region Kehinde Olugbemi announcedthat two physical agent banking kiosks will be opened and commissioned beforethe end of the year so as to make financial services more accessible to thegraduands as well as the city of Ajegunle.