FirstBank has announced a focused initiative to strengthen the operational and competitive capacity of small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) through its upcoming SMEConnect webinar scheduled for 31 March 2026. The bank’s objective is to equip business owners with the fundamental knowledge and tools to adopt and deploy artificial intelligence (AI) in ways that can deliver measurable growth outcomes in today’s digital economy.
The webinar is designed around the theme “AI for Business Growth: From Adoption to Integration and Scalable Impact”. This framing underscores the strategic imperative for SMEs to go beyond awareness and to consider how AI can be embedded into core business functions to improve productivity, optimise operations, strengthen customer engagement, and enable smarter, data-driven decision-making.
Speakers at the event include recognised practitioners and corporate leaders with practical exposure to technology adoption in business contexts. Among them is Temitope Odude, Senior AI Solutions Architect at Microsoft, who is expected to offer perspectives on global best practices for AI integration. Other contributors include Abednego Ugwueke, Head of Digital Channels, and Ibidun Adedewe, Head of SME Acquisition & Partnerships at FirstBank, both of whom will address concrete use cases and operational considerations for AI adoption.
FirstBank’s leadership has framed this webinar as a continuation of its broader commitment to SME development. Chuma Ezirim, Group Executive for e-Business and Retail Products, emphasised the economic importance of SMEs and the bank’s role in supporting their scale-up. According to Ezirim, SMEs are foundational to economic stability and growth, and the bank sees knowledge transfer on innovation, especially AI as critical to sustainable business performance.
Ezirim also highlighted FirstBank’s use of AI in its own financial services, notably in credit scoring processes that enable faster loans for micro enterprises. The bank’s deployment of AI-enabled underwriting tools has supported the disbursement of over ₦1 trillion in financing to micro and small businesses. By combining such service delivery with direct capacity-building efforts, FirstBank aims to accelerate SME readiness for digital transformation.
Registration for the webinar is open to SME owners and entrepreneurs who wish to leverage AI to enhance their business prospects. Participants can expect structured discussions on how to systematically approach AI adoption, from initial experimentation to practical integration within daily operations and how to prioritise investments that yield discernible performance improvements.
The SMEConnect series is part of FirstBank’s signature platforms for small business development. It reflects an evidence-based approach to support, combining expert input with targeted interventions aimed at strengthening enterprise capabilities. Over time, the series has become a consistent forum for strategic guidance, market insight, and actionable frameworks that SMEs can apply to enhance competitiveness.
FirstBank’s efforts in SME support extend beyond webinars. The bank has received multiple recognitions for its impact on SME growth, including awards as Best SME Bank in Nigeria and Best SME Bank in Africa, as well as the SME Financier of the Year in Nigeria. These recognitions reflect the bank’s sustained emphasis on practical solutions that address structural business challenges and improve access to finance, capacity, and technology adoption.
