As part of Fidelity Bank’s COVID-19 response strategy, the bank has partnered with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) to present a four-part webinar series to support Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with financial and business strategies to help them navigate the economic downturn caused by negative impacts of COVID-19.
The webinar series is part of Fidelity’s new thought-leadership series ‘Fidelity Presents…’ and the first installment was held on Thursday, June 11, 2020 on the topic ‘An SME Perspective: Surviving Today to Thrive Tomorrow’.
Speaking at the webinar, Julian Opuni, Managing Director-Fidelity Bank Ghana said: “Together with our partner, IFC, we are happy to present this webinar series. SMEs are a critical segment of our economy, and the COVID-19 pandemic has significantly impacted that sector among others. We at Fidelity feel that in addition to other measures like loan moratoriums and loan restructuring, it is important to present SMEs with practical tools to help them sustain their businesses through this challenging time.
“Additionally, we supplemented our efforts by visiting some of our customers to further understand the difficulties they are facing during this COVID-induced economic downturn,” Mr. Opuni disclosed.
He added that Fidelity Bank will continue to provide SMEs and other businesses such support and educative webinars during and after the pandemic. The training programme was led by leading IFC Consultant, Master Trainer and Instructional Designer, Margaret Jackson, who is also Managing Partner of Rainbow Consult.
About 200 SMEs participated in the webinar, and the majority of attendees expressed satisfaction and appreciation for the insightful lessons learnt. According to one customer: “It was really an insightful seminar. We look forward to more of these to enable us stay profitable during this economic downturn”.
The remaining three installments in the ‘Fidelity Presents…’ SME webinar series will focus on finance during crises, communicating with stakeholders during crises, and adjusting your business plan during crises.
