Nigerian lender, Fidelity Bank Plc, on April 21 launched The Fidelity Food Bank, a Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) initiative to help alleviate hunger and poverty in Africa’s most populous country.
The bank said in actualizing this goal, it would be partnering with carefully selected charity organizations across Nigeria to provide food items to members of the society monthly.
In her opening remarks at the official launch of the project at the Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church, Victoria Island, Lagos, the MD/CEO, Fidelity Bank Plc, Mrs. Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe reiterated the bank’s commitment to CSR via its Fidelity Helping Hands Project and other significant projects anchored on the banks 4 CSR pillars of Education, Environment, Health and Social Welfare and Youth Empowerment.
She said: “According to the Global Hunger Index, an estimated 2.4 billion people, which represents more than 30 per cent of the world’s population, faced severe food insecurity in 2022. In Nigeria, data published by the National Bureau of Statistics in 2022, stated that over 133 million Nigerians are multidimensionally poor and the major issue is hunger.
“We recognize that one of the ways we can continue to touch lives and give back to the communities we serve is by the introduction of The Fidelity Food Bank initiative.”
The launch ceremony had in attendance clergy from the church, led by the Parish Priest, Reverend Father Julius Olaitan, as well as Executives and staff of Fidelity Bank Plc and climaxed with the official handover of the food packs to the church who is one of the bank’s partners in the food bank initiative.
“It is often said that if you want to go fast, go alone, but if you want to go far, go with people. This is the philosophy behind our partnership with Our Lady of Perpetual Help Catholic Church and other Fidelity Food Bank Partners across the country. Our Partners will assist in the distribution of food items to people across their various locations”, explained Onyeali-Ikpe.
The Fidelity Food Bank project comes under the bank’s Health and Social Welfare CSR pillar. Other pillars in the CSR strategy are Education, Environment and Youth Empowerment.
Fidelity Bank is a full-fledged customer commercial bank operating in Nigeria with over 7.5 million customers serviced across its 250 business offices and 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.
