Yemisi Izuora
Sterling Bank Plc said it will significantly support initiatives that would grow local production and consumption of locally manufactured goods and services in its calculated desire to help growth the nation’s economy.
The Bank’s Executive Director, Mr. Abubakar Suleiman who gave the assurance at a press conference on the forthcoming annual Interior Designers Excellence Awards (IDEA) Conference supported by the Bank said it has become obvious that the country could no longer sustain its huge dependence on imported goods and services and that more attention needed to be focused on encouraging local production.
He pointed out that by encouraging local production, the Bank was also promoting the growth of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) thereby contributing to national economic growth.
He said the Bank decided to support IDEA because the promoters of the conference share “our commitment and passion to promote local production and consumption especially as we come up with other initiatives to promote SMEs in the country”.
Mr. Suleiman who emphasized that Sterling Bank has, over the years, consistently patronized local works, explained that the country at the moment does not have the resources to continue to import all the things that we need. “So from supporting SMEs to backing national economic growth, we have many reasons for supporting IDEA 2015”.
In her remarks, the Founder and Director of IDEA, Titi Ogufere noted that one of the major challenges facing the country today is over-dependence on imported goods and services that could be produced locally. “Instead of conserving our scarce foreign exchange and spending it on developmental programmes to enhance the local economy, we spend so much on importation and in the process stifle the local industry”.
She described IDEA, an annual independent design award programme as a foremost significant event in the year for practitioners in the architecture, interior design, real estate and construction fields.
Mrs. Ogufere disclosed that the event which will hold in Lagos on October 30, 2015 will attract over 2000 delegates from Nigeria, Italy, United States and Hong Kong. The theme of the conference is “Design and the Economy: Position Your Brand for Success”.