In continuation of its support for the Showbiz industry, the Bank of Industry is partnering Daily Times of Nigeria on the Miss Nigeria Beauty Pageant taking place on November 7, at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos.
To this end, the Managing Director of the Bank, Rasheed Olaoluwa, has inaugurated a three-man panel for the 39th edition of the show.
The panel, which will be implementing BoI’s partnership with Daily Times, includes Betsy Obaseki, the Managing Director, BOI Investment and Trust Company; Cynthia Nwuka, the Group Head, Creative Industry; and Marian-Francis Hart, the Head of Customer Care Department.
The group, according to a statement from the Bank, conducted a business plan competition entered for by the short-listed contestants at the boot camp in Lagos on November 2 and 3, 2015.
The contestants were coached on November 2 on how to articulate and prepare a business plan.
During the session, the participants were guided by the list of the 35 SME clusters that BOI is paying priority attention to.
Using the format of the Graduate Entrepreneurship Fund application form, the contestants began submitting summaries of their business ideas online on Monday evening.
The project was part of the Bank’s offering of a single digit loan for the creative industry.
The entries were screened overnight by the panel, while the contestants later on, defended their entries during an interactive session with the panelists on Tuesday, with a view to selecting the best bankable business idea that would be financed by BOI from its own funding lines or any applicable matching/managed fund.
The Bank’s MD is expected to make a presentation to the eventual winner of the business idea on Saturdayevening, during the Grand Finale of Miss Nigeria 2015 at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos.