The much-anticipated second edition of the Fidelity International Trade and Creative Connect (FITCC) got off to a boisterous start on Tuesday, October 24, 2023 as Fidelity Bank Plc hosted a broad range of businesses, regulators, members of the diplomatic corps and other guests to the opening ceremony in Houston, Texas, United States of America.
Tagged FITCC Houston, the two-days event is aimed at achieving several objectives including increasing the pipeline of Nigerian businesses that export into the US market, providing the diaspora market more ethnic product options and enabling exporters to build capacity to improve product quality and meet international standards.
Welcoming participants to the event, MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe, said, “Developments on the global scene have necessitated the need to constantly seek viable alternatives as businesses work to stay competitive in a rapidly evolving macro-economic environment. On the supply side, businesses are waking up to the imperative of catering to an international customer base in order to hedge against currency devaluation risks, increase the reach of their products and to ultimately ensure the long-term sustainability of their ventures. Indeed, globalization has emphasized the need for businesses to improve in terms of cross border offerings and collaborations.
“To bridge these gaps, we created the Fidelity International Trade & Creative Connect (FITCC) in 2022 and hosted the inaugural edition of the expo in London last November. At the event, we had over 100 Nigerian businesses connected to United Kingdom business counterparts and deals worth about 200million dollars closed on the spot and post-event. This year, we are taking it a notch higher as we aim to close deals worth about 250million dollars. We have therefore put in place an elaborate experience to help stakeholders achieve this and several other objectives at this expo.
Following the welcome address, keynote and goodwill addresses were presented by the President & Chairman of the Board of Directors African Export–Import Bank (Afreximbank), Professor Benedict Oramah; and Nigeria’s Ambassador to the United States of America, Dr. Uzoma Emenike respectively.
Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe
A key part of the event was the exhibition which featured more than 160 Nigeria and US-based businesses active in the fintech, commodities, fashion, cosmetics, service, creative, agriculture and extractive industries in the non-oil sector.
One of the exhibitors and the Founder/CEO, Oriki Spa, Joyce Awosika said, “We look forward to meeting all our amazing customers and we promise them an impactful experience with our products that would leave a lasting impression. We urge them to join us at booth 520 here at FITCC Houston.”
The expo also featured the signing of a $40million pre-export finance facility in favour of JohnVents Industries -one of the exhibitors at the expo. The loan, which has been adjudged as a landmark development by analysts in the exports space -would be provided by AFREXIM Bank with Fidelity Bank acting as the local administrative agent.
“We are delighted to participate in the tripartite loan signing ceremony as it demonstrates the size of the opportunity in the Nigerian cocoa market and its potential to meet the demand of off-takers in the US. The ceremony also highlights the value of our partnership with AFREXIM Bank especially in providing much-needed credit to last mile beneficiaries to upscale their operations and cater to a global market. These align with our objectives for FITCC and we are thrilled to host the formal deal signing event here”, commented an elated Mrs. Onyeali-Ikpe in a chat with journalists at the event.
Day 1 of FITCC Houston closed out with a fashion show dedicated to unique Nigerian pieces. Themed, “The Connect Plus Fashion Show”, the event featured elegantly styled-models adorning distinctive and culturally inspired designs from several Nigerian labels including Bijelly Couture, Eclectic Chique and MODChic. The fashion show also provided networking opportunities for guests and participants.
Ranked as one of the best banks in Nigeria, Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged customer commercial bank with over 8 million customers serviced across its 251 business offices in Nigeria and the United Kingdom as well as on digital banking channels.
The bank was recognized as the Best Payment Solution Provider Nigeria 2023 and Best SME Bank Nigeria 2022 by the Global Banking and Finance Awards. The bank has also won awards for the “Fastest Growing Bank” and “MSME & Entrepreneurship Financing Bank of the Year” at the 2021 BusinessDay Banks and Other Financial Institutions (BAFI) Awards.
I was recommended this website by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my difficulty You’re wonderful! Thanks!
Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too fantastic. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it smart. I can’t wait to read much more from you. This is actually a tremendous site.
Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Many thanks
I do agree with all of the concepts you’ve introduced for your post. They are very convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are too brief for starters. May just you please prolong them a little from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Many thanks
I was recommended this website by my cousin. I am not sure whether this post is written by him as no one else know such detailed about my difficulty You’re wonderful! Thanks!
I think the admin of this site is genuinely working hard in favor of his website, since here every stuff is quality based data.
Wonderful goods from you, man. I’ve understand your stuff previous to and you’re just too fantastic. I really like what you’ve acquired here, really like what you’re saying and the way in which you say it. You make it entertaining and you still take care of to keep it smart. I can’t wait to read much more from you. This is actually a tremendous site.
Hello everybody, here every person is sharing these experience, therefore it’s good to read this web site, and I used to go to see this blog daily.
Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Many thanks
This site truly has all of the information and facts I needed concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
This site truly has all of the information and facts I needed concerning this subject and didn’t know who to ask.
I do agree with all of the concepts you’ve introduced for your post. They are very convincing and can certainly work. Still, the posts are too brief for starters. May just you please prolong them a little from subsequent time? Thanks for the post.
Hey there! This is kind of off topic but I need some help from an established blog. Is it very difficult to set up your own blog? I’m not very techincal but I can figure things out pretty fast. I’m thinking about making my own but I’m not sure where to begin. Do you have any ideas or suggestions? Many thanks
ap36d1ky
Dear immortals, I need some wow gold inspiration to create.