By Chinenye Anuforo, Lagos
Access Bank through the W Initiative had empowered a number of women-owned Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) at Surulere, Lagos during October’s series of grassroots engagements.
The W Initiative is committed to inspiring, connecting, and empowering women. In 2019, Access Bank and LSETF (Lagos State Employment Trust Fund) launched a N2 billion Matching Fund loan scheme to support women-owned businesses operating in Lagos State.
This loan scheme caters to Startups, Micro Enterprises as well as Small and Medium Scale Enterprises with loans ranging from N50,000 to N5 million.
As a way of increasing awareness and bridging the information gap, The Access Bank’s W Initiative & the LSETF teams embarked on a series of grassroots engagement sessions in the month of October to sensitise business women resident in Lagos on the availability of the facility, the processes as well as requirements involved.
While opening the session, The Group Head of the W Initiative, Abiodun Olubitan, said that ‘women are a driving force in the Nigerian economy, but their access to finance is far too small. Therefore, Access Bank partnered with LSETF to bridge the gap. This initiative will increase the contributions of women-owned businesses to the Nigerian economy and can have a significant development impact.
‘This matching fund will allow Access Bank and LSETF to meet the financing needs of women MSMEs and at the same time, provide comprehensive assistance as well as business and management training to women entrepreneurs.
‘The LSETF W Initiative loan is rightly positioned to enable female entrepreneurs to move their businesses to the next level with ease at a highly competitive rate of 10 per cent per annum. It requires no collateral and can be repaid between 12 – 24 months.’
The partnership will further reiterate Access Bank’s commitment to empowering female entrepreneurs across Nigeria and Africa at large by providing affordable financing to female MSMEs to increase their productivity, enable expansion and further lead to job creation.