Globally, the roles of Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in national economic development, particularly in low-income and emerging economies, have continued to gain increasing attention in recent years as the challenges of unemployment and worsening poverty levels in global economies continue to accentuate on yearly basis.
In Nigeria, the MSMEs have not been given properly policy and funding supports over the years despite their productive potential in the sustained drive by past and present administrations to hinge the country’s economic development on the MSMEs’ hub.
For instance, a joint survey by Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and the National Bureau of Statistics (NBS) in 2017 indicated that the MSMEs contribute almost half of the national Gross Domestic Product (GDP), employ 76.5 percent of the national workforce and account for 7.64 percent of export receipts.
It is against this background that the efforts by the KPMG, through its latest 2019 Banking Industry Customer Service Survey report, to appraise the level of bank’s lending and customer services delivery to the MSMEs become relevant to the current discourse on how to grow the nation’s MSMEs and transforming them, through adequate funding, to engine of national economic development
KPMG, one the four leading global consulting firms, commenced the focused, which focused on experiences of customers across financial market segments with their banks since 2007 and was completed in the third quarter of 2019.
During the survey period, more than 200,000 customers were surveyed through face-to-face and online exercise conducted across the country. It covered 25,466 retail customers, 3,045 SMEs and 369 commercial/corporate organizations.
According to the report, analysis of the banks’ performance in the SME segment, which was anchored on six pillars of assessment and performance, namely personification, integrity, expectations, resolution, time and effort as well as empathy, showed substantial dynamism in the 2019 ranking, with the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) moving from a third position to become the number one SME-supporting bank in the country.
The consulting firm reported: “While the Nigerian banking landscape has constantly been faced with steep competition, the stakes have been raised even higher and performing well on customer experience is the new minimum standard.
“As the race for the customer intensifies, front-runners will be those who demonstrate an understanding of the customer’s specific circumstances to consistently deliver a personalised experience”, it added.
Industry experts believe that, the latest affirmation received by FCMB is a demonstration that the various supports the Bank offers to boost the performance of SMEs and its overall contributions to the growth of the nation’s economy are yielding the desired results and appreciated by the market.
Prioritizing micro, small and medium enterprises in our financial products and services is a strategic and innovative approach adopted by the bank to be a leading catalyst in Nigeria’s drive to properly position the economy on a strong pedestal of product-driven sustainable national development, the Managing Director, First City Monument Bank, Mr. Adam Nuru, has confirmed.
Nuhu, who made this remark during a chat with Daily Trust after his bank won the KPMG 2019 Banking Industry Customer Service Survey award, pointed out that FCMB decided to cut a niche in MSMEs financing because it appreciated that without developing the sub-sector, the nation’s unemployment and poverty crises will continue to worsen.
A further analysis of the survey report showed that Fidelity Bank and Ecobank made significant improvements in their rankings. For instance, despite lower levels of overall satisfaction for SMEs, the two banks moved up more than four places into the top five banks. Access Bank also came 3rd in the ranking.
