Standard Bank launches SME training programme

STANDARD Bank Namibia has launched a training and mentoring programme for small and medium enterprises from all parts of the country.

The training programme, which will run for 12 months, will cater for 25 emerging entreprenuers annually.

The number of trainees may increase, depending on the outcomes of the training programme.

This was revealed by the bank’s head of corporate social investment Sigrid Tjijorokisa during the launch of the training programme in Windhoek on Monday.

“With an estimated budget of N$750 000 for 2016, a total of 25 SME will undergo a year-long programme in trainees coaching and mentorship interventions in order to sharpen their business management skills and financial acumen,” she said during the launch.

Standard Bank partnered SMEs Compete, the Business and Innovation Institute of Namibia as well as FabLab Namibia, which is a prototyping laboratory at NUST on this programme.

According to Tjijorokisa, the SME trainees will also be supplemented by a monthly newspaper publication, which will provide them with business and financial management tips as well as four quarterly breakfast sessions, each in the different regions of the country, which will serve as a platform for knowledge-sharing, networking and engagement with other SMEs.

This is all on top of the year-long invaluable training, coaching and mentoring sessions.

“Usually, SME members would just go for two-day workshops and when they get back to their businesses, the initial challenges they face would still stand,” she noted.

Even though the majority of the 25 trainees are Standard Bank clients, some of them have been identified through institutions such as FabLab Namibia and the Business and Innovation Institute of Namibia.

“We look forward to growing our local economy and ultimately creating a vibrant SME sector throughout the country,” she said.

SMEs Compete is a consultancy firm which helps Namibian small and medium enterprises grow, create wealth and generate employment.

Speaking during the launch, SMEs Compete director Danny Meyer said the company is delighted to have partnered Standard Bank.

He expressed his conviction that the 25 beneficiaries of the training programme will make a success of it.

“They will also have entrepreneurs’ roundtables, where they will sit and share ideas,” he stated.

According to Meyer, entrepreneurs are not stingy with information and always share it with others.

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