Wema Bank
Plc, the pioneer of Nigeria’s first fully digital bank ALAT, has empowered over
100 women in the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSME) sub-sector. The business
advisory seminar, tagged ‘Running A Profitable Business’
brought women entrepreneurs together from the bank's Lagos Region.
Speaking at
the event, Mrs Aramide Awosanya, Regional Manager, Lagos Mainland, Wema Bank,
said the initiative was taken to complement the policy of the Central Bank of
Nigeria, which aims at MSME development in the country.
It would be
recalled that the CBN launched the MSME Development Fund in 2013 with a share
capital of N220 billion. The Fund was established in recognition of the
significant contributions of the MSME sub-sector to the economy and the
existing huge financing gap.
Awosanya
said Wema Bank is working with the Bank of Industry (BOI) to assist women
entrepreneur to maximize the enormous financial benefits available within the
Sara by Wema community.
According
to her, Sara by Wema is a community that gives women the capacity to
participate in, wholly contribute to and fully benefit from the growth
opportunities available in Wema Bank. In her words, "it is fuelled by our
conviction that women across all socio-economic backgrounds deserve as many
opportunities as they can get to achieve financial independence and economic
growth."
She stated
that the community is open to all Nigerian women who own startup enterprises as
well as those that are low-income earners and stay-at-home entrepreneurs.
Mrs Sade
Odunaiya, keynote speaker at the event and Certified Business Coach with
ActionCoach, addressed participants on “Growing Your Own Business’. In her
presentation, she noted that 80% of new enterprises fail within their first 5
years of operation, while another 80% of those who survived that period also
fail within the next 5 years.
On the way
forward, she advised participants to ensure they master their production
systems, guide against misplaced priority, collate feedback from customers and
also put in place procedural manuals for all team members.
Similarly,
Mrs Jimoh Amdala, Deputy Manager, Gender Business, BOI, said her management
partnered with Wema Bank with a view to enlightening women about the best way
to package their applications for credit facilities from Wema Bank.
Speaking on
“How to Fund Your Business”, Amdala disclosed that the BOI has identified the
basic impediments working against entrepreneurs in applications for loans. She
also stated that BOI does not give loans to businesses that would not be able
to repay. Her words: “We give loans at a very minimal rate but must be
convinced of your viability to pay back.
However,
Amdala disclosed that when women approach the BOI for loans, their
documentation, most of the time, is not complete. According to her, the
management of BOI is always ready to give a helping hand to any application by
women because the financial institution believes that any support given to a woman
connotes support to a nation.
Meanwhile, Awosanya revealed that
Wema Bank will take the Sara by Wema women empowerment initiative to other
parts of Nigeria for the benefit of women entrepreneurs across the country. “We
shall take the initiative to Abuja before the end of the year and later to other
parts of the country,” she said.
L-R:
Head, Inclusive Banking, Wema Bank Plc, Okwuchi Ugorji; Chief Personality
Officer, Inventivo, Sade Odunaiya; Head, Sustainability, Wema Bank Plc,
Abimbola Agbejule; Managing Director, Mona Matthews, Monalisa Abimbola Azeh and
Deputy Manager, Gender Business, Bank of Industry (BoI), Jimoh Amdala, at the
SARA by Wema Seminar on running a profitable business held in Lagos...on
Thursday.
Comments
Post a Comment