FirstBank is set to help small and medium-sized businesses harness Artificial Intelligence to drive growth and stay competitive in a rapidly evolving digital economy, as it rolls out its SMEConnect Webinar initiative.
The webinar, scheduled for Tuesday, 31 March 2026, is designed to equip SMEs with practical knowledge and tools to adopt and integrate AI into their operations. Positioned as one of the bank’s flagship SME support platforms, SMEConnect continues to deliver strategic insights that respond to the real challenges businesses face in a fast-changing digital landscape.
With the theme, “AI for Business Growth: From Adoption to Integration and Scalable Impact,” this edition focuses on helping entrepreneurs move beyond awareness into actual implementation. The session will highlight how AI can be used to boost productivity, streamline internal processes, improve customer engagement, and enable smarter, data-driven decision-making across business functions.
Speaking ahead of the event, Chuma Ezirim, Group Executive, e-Business and Retail Products at FirstBank, emphasised the bank’s commitment to SME growth. “SMEs are the backbone of the Nigerian economy, and at FirstBank, we recognise that the economy cannot thrive without them,” he said.
He added, “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.”
The webinar will feature Temitope Odude, Senior AI Solutions Architect at Microsoft, who will share practical and globally relevant insights on integrating AI into daily business operations. Other speakers include Abednego Ugwueke, Head of Digital Channels, and Ibidun Adedewe, Head of SME Acquisition & Partnerships at FirstBank, both bringing industry-specific expertise to guide participants.
