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Sterling Bank Pledges Support
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for Indo-Nigerian Alliance
Nigeria’s leading commercial bank, Sterling Bank Plc
has pledged to continue to support the growth of Indian and
Indo-Nigerian organisations doing business in the country.
The Bank’s Executive Director, Retail and Consumer
Banking, Mr. Grama Narasimhan disclosed this during the
build to the celebration of Nigeria’s 58th independence
anniversary and 60 years of bilateral relations between
India and Nigeria.
Mr. Narasimhan noted that there is huge potential in
Nigeria for businesses to thrive especially retail focused
organisations given Nigeria’s over 180 million strong
population and the young demographic spread of the
populace. ‘Over 70 percent of Nigeria’s population are aged
18 to 25, this not only offers a ready active workforce for
businesses but equally provides a large consumer base”.
“There are over a hundred companies operating in
Nigeria that are owned or operated by Indians and persons
of Indian origin. Sterling Bank’s strong affiliation with India’s
largest public sector bank, the State Bank of India has
positioned the financial services provider in a favourable
place to understand the peculiarities of Indian organisations
and how best to support them in Nigeria. Over the years,
India’s export to Nigeria has grown exponentially and
require the support of a strong financial partner to facilitate
the spread and adoption of the products across Nigeria’s
massive landscape.” Said Mr. Narasimhan.
Sterling Bank has a network of 180 branches and cash
centres across Nigeria and over 5000 points of sales
terminals and offers an excellent opportunity for companies
looking to do business beyond Lagos Nigeria.
Notable businesses of Indian origin in Nigeria include
Bharti Airtel, Mahindra & Mahindra, Bajaj Auto Group,
Ashok Leyland, Tata Group, Aptech, among many others.
26 • Nigeria-India• 2018
Mr. Grama Narasimhan
A good number of these successful organisations have
relied on the support of strong banks to scale their business
across Nigeria.
Earlier in the year, Sterling Bank partnered with Tata
Africa Services Limited, the Nigerian arm of Tata Group, to
unveil an auto loan scheme which offers free spare parts
and attractive discounts to business owners in Nigeria. The
scheme was envisioned to empower Micro, Small & Medium
Enterprises (MSMEs) to acquire operational vehicles which
will, in turn, accelerate their growth through timely and hitch
free delivery of products and services to customers.
Sterling Bank’s team of experts armed with a deep
knowledge of the Nigerian business landscape, fiscal
regulations, and consumer behavior provide advisory
services for businesses spanning from registration
procedure to import, export and distribution of products.
Nigeria is recording strong growth after exiting recession
with nearly three percent increase in every quarter. As global
oil prices continue to shrink, growth in non-oil sectors
continues to rise with sectors like telecommunication,
power, and agriculture recording the highest outputs while
the 18-year strong democratic environment has given more
enterprises confidence to invest in Nigeria.