FirstBank of Nigeria, West Africa’s premier financial institution and financial inclusion services provider, has announced the next edition of its SMEConnect Webinar scheduled to hold on Tuesday, March 31, 2026. The virtual event is designed to equip small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with the knowledge and tools required to harness the power of Artificial Intelligence (AI) for business growth.
The upcoming session is strategically curated to educate SMEs on how AI can be effectively applied to scale businesses in today’s rapidly evolving digital economy. The theme of the webinar, “AI for Business Growth: From Adoption to Integration and Scalable Impact,” reflects the growing relevance of Artificial Intelligence as one of the most transformative trends shaping the SME landscape.
Participants will gain actionable insights into how AI can enhance productivity, streamline operations, strengthen customer engagement and enable smarter, data-driven decision-making for businesses seeking sustainable growth.
The webinar will feature industry experts including Temitope Odude as guest speaker. Odude is expected to share globally relevant perspectives on how SMEs can successfully adopt and integrate AI solutions into their everyday business operations.
Other speakers scheduled for the session include Abednego Ugwueke and Ibidun Adedewe, who will discuss how digital innovation and strategic partnerships can accelerate SME development.
Speaking ahead of the event, Chuma Ezirim emphasised the importance of SMEs to the Nigerian economy.
“SMEs are the backbone of the Nigerian economy, and at FirstBank, we recognise that the economy cannot thrive without them. As a committed growth partner to SMEs, this session reinforces our strong focus on innovation, demonstrated through initiatives such as the use of AI-enabled credit scoring to deliver fast, instant loans to micro-SMEs, with over ₦1 trillion disbursed to support customers’ financial needs,” he said.
Ezirim added that the webinar will equip business owners with the knowledge and practical insights needed to scale their businesses through Artificial Intelligence.
“I encourage every business owner to participate in this session to gain hands-on guidance on integrating AI into everyday business operations,” he added.
SME owners and entrepreneurs interested in participating can register for the webinar through the official FirstBank registration portal.
The SMEConnect Webinar series remains one of FirstBank’s flagship platforms dedicated to supporting SMEs with practical knowledge, business advisory and strategic insights. Over the years, the initiative has contributed significantly to empowering businesses and strengthening the SME ecosystem.
In recognition of its impact on the SME sector, FirstBank has received several prestigious industry awards. The bank was named Best SME Bank in Nigeria and Best SME Bank in Africa by the TAB Global Excellence in Retail Finance Awards for two consecutive years as of 2025. It also won the SME Financier of the Year – Nigeria award by The Digital Banker.
