Sterling Bank sponsors social media awards

 Sterling Bank is sponsoring 2014 edition of social media awards in Africa. The social media awards are Africa’s premier awards for social and digital media with nominations spanning four categories and drawn from across the continent.Speaking in Lagos during the launch, the bank’s Head of Brand Management, Abiola Aloba explained, “As a bank, we cannot overlook the importance of Social Media in today’s society; the increasing role it plays in the lives of people.

“The bank offers micro credit of N3, 000 to members based on social reputation.

Users who request for the cash via the Social Lender website are rated by the algorithm that calculates their social reputation using various criteria, based on this; the request is either granted or rejected”.

According to him, when we launched it, it was solely for Sterling Bank account holders, but now it can be accessed once a user has Sterling Money, which just needs a phone number to register.  Facebook and Twitter are two of the most important social media platforms which influence change and decision making among young Nigerians.

This new line of service also assures that Sterling Bank will sustain its position as an organization that understands the needs of its customers and leverages relevant platforms to proffer innovative solutions which in return enriches the lives of its customers.

As a bank we focus on providing instant solutions to support our online customers while optimizing the potential of our social platforms and we believe this is in the right direction” Aloba said.

The Social Media Awards are Africa’s premier awards for social and digital media with nominations spanning four categories and drawn from across the continent.With 4 major categories and 15 awards, the SMAA is a genuine, timely intervention for promoting distinctive creativity, peerless innovation and pervasive developments on the African continent through the best use of social media platforms and the rest of the social web.

The emerging social continent is what the SMAA stands to celebrate in order to deepen and broaden the sustainable continental developments.

The SMAA is organised by Development Diaries Ltd/GTE with institutional support from leading social media professionals, international agencies and media conglomerates across Africa.

The project lead, social media awards Africa, Femi Aderibigbe said Individuals and organisation will be eligible for nominations for any of the categories for The Social Media Awards 2014 which include Nationality of any African country or no less than 3 years permanent residency status in any African country; must be 18 years and above; organisations will be considered for the award categories if they are owned in full or part by any African with Non-profit organisations must also be duly registered and operation in any African country or headquartered overseas with at least one (1) duly registered country office; the winners will be announced by November 2014.

According to him, the first phase of The Social Media Awards begins with the call for nominations. Based on the nomination criteria, nominations are requested from individuals and organisations across the world. This phase is expected to last for 4 weeks

‘’45 finalists (3 nominees per award) will be celebrated at the breath-taking ‘Night of Virtual Wonders’, an evening of rewarding excellence in creativity, impact and influence at The Social Media Awards Africa 2014. Here, 15 winners will emerge and remain a dominant force both online and offline as models for African creativity and innovation’’.