FirstBank Launches 2025 CR&S Week, Inspires Global Acts of Kindness and Sustainable Impact
csrreporters 
FirstBank, West Africa’s premier bank and a leader in financial inclusion, has announced the launch of its 2025 Corporate Responsibility and Sustainability (CR&S) Week, taking place from 27 October to 1 November 2025. Now in its ninth year, the annual initiative highlights the Bank’s commitment to community empowerment, environmental stewardship, and advancing the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).
Through its signature Start Performing Acts of Random Kindness (SPARK) initiative, FirstBank continues to promote acts of generosity while reducing environmental impact. During CR&S Week, employees across the Bank’s global network including FirstBank Nigeria, UK, Gambia, Sierra Leone, DRC, Guinea, Ghana, FBNBank Senegal, First Pension, and First Nominees will dedicate their time and resources to projects aligned with the Bank’s sustainability strategy.
Acting Group Head of Marketing & Corporate Communications, Olayinka Ijabiyi, said, “CR&S Week is a call to action. It is about showing up for humanity and proving that even the smallest act of kindness can create lasting change. Since 2017, our SPARK initiative has encouraged staff to go the extra mile, while inspiring communities to perform acts of random kindness.”
As part of its environmental commitment, FirstBank plans to plant at least 20,000 trees during the week in partnership with the Nigeria Conservation Foundation (NCF), advancing Nigeria’s 2060 decarbonisation agenda. This initiative builds on a prior pledge to plant 50,000 trees by 2025, with 31,000 already planted.
In line with SDG 5 (gender equality), the Bank will also partner with Borno and Katsina States to provide medical interventions, including surgeries and post care kits, for women living with Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF).
Throughout the week, staff will share messages of kindness and participate in themed webinars, school engagements, and community visits to orphanages, internally displaced persons (IDP) camps, and charitable organisations across Nigeria, sub-Saharan Africa, and the UK. These efforts reinforce FirstBank’s mission to uplift lives, foster empathy, and create opportunities for those at the bottom of the pyramid.
Since its inception in 2017, CR&S Week has grown into a global platform for driving positive social and environmental impact, mobilising both employees and stakeholders to champion causes that protect the environment, empower communities, and promote inclusive development. FirstBank continues to inspire individuals to go beyond daily routines and make kindness a global habit.