Diamond Bank gets West Africa’s SME award

Diamond Bank Plc has been named and awarded the Best SME Bank in West Africa by the famous Banker Magazine in the 2015 West Africa Awards and also emerged as the Best Microfinance Bank in West Africa. 

According to the awarding institution, the awards are in recognition of the bank’s high-value addition to the growth of micro businesses in West African and its leading role in stimulating the productive capacity of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) as the engine that drives industrialisation and sustainable economic growth and development.

A message from the awarding institution as reflected in the award certificates signed by its Chief Executive Officer, Robin Amiot, and Managing Editor, Georgina Gongs, stated that Diamond Bank’s success in the fiercely contested award categories by a lot of nominated banks in West Africa, is in recognition and reward for the quality of its financial products purely tailor-made to stimulate the productive strength of the SME sector and the unrivalled excellence in services to customers.

“The publishers of Banker Africa understand the importance of best-in-class benchmarks and growing a dynamic and successful regional finance industry. Your institution’s success in the Banker Africa – West African Awards as category winners for Best SME Bank West Africa and Best Microfinance Bank West Africa,” reflects Diamond Bank’s superior creative vigour that has stamped her as a dominant financial house in the region.

Winners in each of the award categories emerged after nominated financial institutions were subjected to a rigorous and transparent voting process by registered website users across Africa.

According to the Diamond Bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Uzoma Dozie, the investment and focus on the MSME segment is strategic and predictive. In his view, the future of sustainable banking in Nigeria is retail, therefore it is necessary to grow and consolidate its strength in the segment.

Commenting on the success of the Bank in growing the SME sector, the Head, Corporate Communications Division, Ayona Trimnell, stated that the award is a huge testament of Diamond Bank’s strategic growth plan to see the SME as the hub of economic activity in the country, noting that an area in which the Bank has moved ahead of the pack is in the designing, management and delivery of SME stakeholder-orientated banking products and services.