BRAC Bank, DU host graduation ceremony

BRAC Bank and the Department of Marketing of the University of Dhaka (DU) have jointly organised the graduation ceremony of the country’s first-ever entrepreneur accelerator programme in the banking sector titled 'Uddokta 101'. 

As they completed the three-month intensive training, a total of 60 emerging entrepreneurs were given certificates at the ceremony at a city hotel on Monday, the bank said in a statement.   

The accelerator programme comes against the backdrop of the rise of entrepreneurship in Bangladesh and especially an increasing number of women venturing into the business field. This training aimed to facilitate promising entrepreneurs in developing their entrepreneurial and managerial skills to help them expand and sustain businesses.

Bangladesh Bank Deputy Governor Abu Farah Md Nasser handed over the certificates as the chief guest while SME Foundation Managing Director Md Mofizur Rahman and Business Studies Faculty Dean Professor Dr Muhammad Abdul Moyeen were present as the special guest.

BRAC Bank Managing Director and CEO Selim RF Hussain, and Deputy Managing Director and SME Banking Head Syed Abdul Momen were also present.

In partnership with the Department of Marketing of the Faculty of Business Studies (FBS), University of Dhaka, BRAC Bank launched the entrepreneurial accelerator course in 2021.

BRAC Bank contributed to the participants’ registration cost from its CSR fund. The virtual format of conducting the course helped entrepreneurs from various districts of the country.

Uddokta 101 is a targeted accelerator/certification course for aspiring entrepreneurs, especially women, having a minimum of one year of business experience. In the first two batches, 55 per cent of entrepreneurs were women. The participants received exclusive entrepreneurial training from the country’s renowned trainers, academicians, bank professionals, and practitioners.

Marking the occasion, Selim RF Hussain said, “BRAC Bank has always been proactive in nurturing SMEs in Bangladesh. With this accelerator programme, we aim to help SMEs and entrepreneurs grow by up-scaling their businesses. We want our women to take advantage of this course as we encourage more women to enroll in this special course to realise their entrepreneurial dreams.