Sterling Bank launches MBN platform to promote Made-in-Nigeria products
By Innocent Obasi
Sterling Bank Nigeria PLC has launched a new platform named “Made By Nigerian (MBN)” to promote quality goods produced by Nigerian entrepreneurs across the country.
This was disclosed by Abubakar Sulaimon, the financial institution’s managing director, while speaking at the bank’s corporate headquarters in Lagos.
According to the bank, MBN is a commercial hub opened to businesses operating in Nigeria and of Nigerian descent. It centers on the purchase and sale of products that are entirely made in Nigeria at market-competitive prices with the goal of promoting Nigerian products and services around the globe.
Sulaimon said the bank is aware of Nigeria’s traditional strengths and ability to utilise locally made goods to improve its economic environment. He explained that MBN, backed by Sterling Bank, is a community with a passion to converge the daring Nigerian entrepreneurs and saturate the Nigerian and international market with locally made products, while telling the Nigerian story as a means to better position who we are as a people.
He pointed out that though the Central Bank of Nigeria has been promoting made-in-Nigeria products through the PAVE option (Produce, Add Value, and Export), there are still some gaps in between production and export which Sterling Bank is committed to bridging.
Highlighting the benefits of the initiative, the Sterling Bank managing director said it allows consumers to simultaneously experience Nigeria’s past, present, and future; creates more jobs with every purchase; broadens opportunities for growth and development in manufacturing output and exports; and allows local products to comprehend a consumer’s language, culture, and aspirations.
The managing director added that the bank is committed to promoting the products in the local market where the standards can be tested and upgraded through insightful feedback from the local market that aids the entrepreneurs in upscale.
Sulaimon assured that the platform would be sustainable as it is a community that they may not exert any overbearing influence but are willing to support because they have faith in the ability of local entrepreneurs.
He also expressed optimism that developing the ecosystem will open up opportunities for foreigners to come to Nigeria and demand made by Nigerian goods.