BOI partners Daily Times on Miss Nigeria Beauty Pageant

In continuation of its support for the Showbiz industry, the Bank of Industry, BoI, is partnering Daily Times of Nigeria on the forthcoming Miss Nigeria Beauty Pageant, taking place on November 7, at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos. To this end, Managing Director of the Bank, Mr. 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 Mrs Betsy Obaseki, Managing Director, BOI Investment and Trust Company; Mrs Cynthia Nwuka, Group Head, Creative Industry and Ms Marian-Francis Hart, Head, Customer Care Department.

The group, according to a statement from the Bank, is conducting a business plan competition to be entered for by the short-listed contestants at the boot camp, in Lagos, between 2nd and 3rd November, 2015.

The contestants are coached on Monday, 2nd November 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 is 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 Saturday evening, during the Grand Finale of Miss Nigeria 2015 at the Oriental Hotel, Lagos.