By Omodele Adigun
FBNQuest, the investment banking and asset management subsidiary of FBN Holdings Plc, has reinforced its commitment to empowering women in collaboration with HerVest NG, a social enterprise providing financial inclusion for women.
HerVest is an inclusive digital platform providing financial growth services to under-served and excluded African women through target savings, impact investing and credit financing- specifically for smallholder women farmers in Nigeria. Their approach is to strengthen the capacity of urban and peri-urban in making decisive impact investments, particularly in female small-scale farmers who mostly lack access to capital and market while also strengthening local and global economies.
By addressing the $15.6bn gender gap in Agriculture, providing growth opportunities towards specific crops, grain banking, and provision of digitized e-extension services to female small-scale farmers in rural areas, cooperative members at HerVest earn competitive returns while strengthening the financial capacity of female farmers through access to capital, training sessions, and markets.
This partnership with HerVest was established as an innovative approach toward educating and empowering women on the importance of growing their businesses through proper financial planning. The overall objective is to ensure women imbibe smart investment and financial planning habits, in order to enable them to be more deliberate about preparing for the future and achieving their short, medium, or long-term financial goals.
Commenting on the alliance, Kayode Akinkugbe, Managing Director/CEO, FBNQuest Merchant Bank, stated: “We believe strategic partnerships are an important tool for achieving real impact, and we are committed to collaborating with reputable organisations to deliver wider and more sustainable results across our different businesses.
“We started this partnership to help women become more aware and confident about growing their wealth because we know there is an immense opportunity for economic growth and social impact when more women plan towards their future”. He added.
HerVest’s mission is to improve the lives of women through greater access to and use of financial services. Through this partnership, FBNQuest continues to support the community in building long-term wealth.