Sterling Bank Plc has signed a Memorandum of Understanding with the Nigerian Optometric Association to automate operations, enhance capacity and provide funding at competitive interest rates for members of the association.
A statement said while speaking at the signing ceremony of the MoU in Lagos, the Group Head, Health Finance of Sterling Bank, Mrs Ibironke Akinmade, said the initiative was part of the bank’s vision to be the leading bank for businesses in the health sector.
She said, “We have adopted a community approach in engagement with stakeholders in this sector. This will not only give us leverage to develop tailor-made propositions for the community, but it also creates an inroad for engagement of their members through a cluster approach.”
Akinmade said the bank recently engaged the NOA to scale its offerings in the health sector, which included access to finance (template credit), access to digitalisation (payment platforms and electronic medical records) as well as advisory services, among others.
The head of health finance said the rationale behind the partnership with NOA was to further position Sterling Bank as the bank of choice for businesses in the health sector, adding that this meant more business collaboration and partnership with stakeholders in the health space.
She said the bank had earmarked N10bn for the entire health care sector in the country and would accommodate any level of funding which members of the NOA may require.
Under the MoU, members of the association would be able to borrow from the Central Bank of Nigeria intervention for the health sector at five per cent as well as obtain template credit from the bank within 48 hours at competitive interest rate of 20 per cent, which would be below the prevailing rate in the banking industry, she said.
The statement said, “Since 2018, Sterling Bank has concentrated investment in five sectors of the economy under its HEART’s strategy in a bid to make impact in the country’s economic development. The five sectors in the HEART’s strategy include health, education, agriculture, renewable energy and transportation.”
Also speaking, the President, NOA, Dr. Obinna Awiaka, said the association wanted a bank that would help its members to grow and discovered that Sterling was the only bank that has passion for the healthcare sector.
He said the relationship between members of his association and the bank would build the economy because once the healthcare industry was built, the economy would also grow.
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