The Nation Newspaper

Tag: female entrepreneurs

  • SMEDAN launches programme for female entrepreneurs

    SMEDAN launches programme for female entrepreneurs

    The Small and medium enterprise  Development Agency, SMEDAN, has Introduced Speed Pitch Competition, for female owned SMEs to win over one million naira.

    The participants will receive training and support to develop and clearly articulate unique business innovations, viability, and potential.

    SMEDAN in a statement  said the idea is to unlock opportunities, including private investments in and across the Globe.  

    The Director General, SMEDAN, Charles Odii, said this initiative is part of SMEDAN’s ‘GROW Nigerian’ strategy, which focuses on boosting local production by providing SMEs with financial and non-financial resources, including markets, knowledge, mentorship, and tools, to grow sustainably.

    “Participants will be trained and the first edition of the pitch competition will take place on May 1, 2024, at the Eko Convention Center in Lagos, as part of the MSME Engagement Series hosted by Engr. Jennifer Adighije, the Senior Special Assistant to the President on Entrepreneurship and Innovation/Digital Economy.

    Read Also: Simi discusses impact of motherhood on music, marriage

    “To participate in the first edition, businesses must be female-owned, registered, and in operation for at least three years. Applications opened on April 24 and will close on April 27. Shortlisted applicants will undergo a test to determine the top five performers who will get the chance to present their pitch at the main event in Lagos”.

    Odii said the winner will receive a prize of one million naira for workforce support, procurement of work tools, and business expansion. Runners-up will receive 300k and 200k respectively, along with free business development support.

    Opara, also the Chairman of Council, CIBN, explained youth engagement initiatives aimed at checkmating mass migration of the nation’s young professionals out of the country to other advanced economies.

    Opara, who coordinated and chaired the AGM, reeled out his achievements in ICT, revenue drive, capacity building, legacy projects, and support in ongoing economic policy reforms in Nigeria, among others.

    “I am particularly delighted that our Institute continued to wax stronger financially, notwithstanding the economic downturns and headwinds in the year 2023.

    “It is on record that our Institute for the first time crossed the one billion Naira mark by achieving a Net Operating Surplus of N1.371 billion in 2023 when compared with N837.943 million achieved in 2022, representing a growth of 63.60 per cent.

    “Similarly, total revenue grew from N2.065 billion recorded in 2022 to N2.782 billion in 2023, representing 34.72 per cent growth, while total assets grew from N7.821 billion in 2022 to N9.119 billion in 2023.

    “The cost-to-income ratio for the year ended December 31, 2023, stood at 50.72 per cent, down from 59.41 per cent in the corresponding period in 2022. This ratio i

  • Experts train female entrepreneurs

    Executive Chairman and Founder, Byinks Foundation/Oja.org, Mr. Yinka Banire, has urged young female entrepreneurs to be dynamic and disciplined to drive socioeconomic growth thereby having a successful business.

    Speaking at a programme organised for young female entrepreneurs by Leadership Empowerment & Resource Network (LEARN), Banire pointed out that one of the number one core value of a successful business is integrity.

    “It is the number one core value of a businessman. If you lack integrity, or cheat your fellow human being, your business will collapse. You have to be honest first with yourself then your business, work on your conscience and build a war against dishonesty so that you can be able to discipline yourself whenever there is cash in your hands,” he warned.

    The programme tagged, ‘Creating Wealth and Wellbeing for Young Entrepreneurs,’ was also an opportunity for participants to know that while allowing their business to grow, they also need to make a budget for their health, as the adage says health is wealth.

    Justifying the need for the programme, the Chief Operating Officer, LEARN, Mrs. Ronke Oguntoyinbo said, “The aim is to empower young female entrepreneurs in all areas such as health, social media, finance, accessing loans with low interest and how to make their business better.”

  • Access, Diamond host female entrepreneurs

    Access and Diamond Bank commemorated the International Women’s Day by hosting female entrepreneurs to a conference held in Lagos.

    The event themed ‘Think W… Build Smart and Innovate’ featured insightful sessions, as the speakers highlighted issues and solutions on how women can effectively leverage on technology and finance to build profitable and innovative businesses.

    While delivering the keynote speech, the CEO/ Group Managing Director of Access Bank, Herbert Wigwe said “Women, over the years, have continued to break boundaries, reinvent the status-quo and take advantage of the opportunities provided by technology and quality financial systems to make things better in the society.

    Read also: Our Girls; Census fiction; politics vs governance

    This year, the International Women’s Day Conference, has been designed to educate women on how best to leverage innovations because we have come to the realization that female-owned businesses also hold the key to the growth and stability of our economy”.

     

  • CBN boosts credit facilities to female entrepreneurs

    The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has said it is partnering the National Centre for Women Development (NCWD) in a bid to improve credit facilities for female entrepreneurs in the country.

    The Head, Strategy Coordination Office, Financial Inclusion Secretariat Development, CBN’s Finance Department, Mr Attah Joseph, said at NCWD office in Abuja at the weekend.

    Joseph said there was need to improve women’s access to finance; saying the meeting was geared toward finding possible initiatives that could address the challenges faced by women in accessing financial services.

    According to him, finance is very essential to growth, development and general welfare because it affects business activities and basic human needs. He lamented the lingering disparity which shows that women access to funds is lower than men despite their obvious importance to nation building.

    “Our 2017 survey shows that 42.3 per cent of men have accounts while only 30 per cent of women do not have accounts and access to interventions,” he said.

    Joseph said countries with more bank accounts and more access to finance are better in human development, saying there is huge connection between finance and wellbeing of countries worldwide.

    Responding, the Director-General, NCWD, Mrs Mary Ekpere-Eta said the centre only gets intervention from Federal Government, adding that the funds were not enough.

    Ekpere-Eta therefore, sought assistance from the CBN to enable the reactivation of various women development centres across the country.

    According to her, interventions can reach more women, particularly at the grassroots, through these centres.

     

  • Sterling Bank empowers female entrepreneurs

    In a bid to empower women operating in the Micro, Small Medium Enterprises (MSME) sectors of the Nigerian economy, Sterling Bank Plc, has organised a capacity building to equip women with competencies required to run a better business. The programme was powered by One-Woman, the bank’s robust and exclusive value proposition for women.

    Commenting on the capacity building programme, Cosmas Uwaezuoke, Head of Retail Sales, Sterling Bank Plc said: “The bank is committed to equipping female entrepreneurs with business skills and financial management competencies required to run better businesses. We are doing this because research showed that women own 41 per cent of businesses in Nigeria. However, just about two per cent of women entrepreneurs have access to finance, that is bank loans. To change this trend, we are teaching female entrepreneurs to enhance profitability through effective cash flow and working capital management.”

    According to Mr. Uwaezuoke, a research conducted by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) indicated that women constitute about 47.5 per cent of Nigeria’s population. However, just 30 per cent of women have bank accounts even though it is estimated that there are more women doing businesses than men in the country. “Research shows that women want convenient banking services, safety of funds, access to finance and capacity development as well as savings opportunities for their children,”he said.

    Uwaezuoke observed that it was against this background that Sterling Bank, one of the top five SME friendly banks in the country, created the ‘One Woman’ proposition to meet these important financial services needs of Nigerian women.

    Explaining the One Woman value proposition, Mr. Henry Bassey, Chief Marketing Officer, Sterling Bank Plc said: “It is a bouquet of value-added offerings which meets the financial, business and personal needs of Nigerian women, irrespective of their social status. The One Woman value proposition also provides very strong platforms for women to support other women.”

    Bassey disclosed that benefits of the One Woman value proposition range from Sterling Maternal Medical Finance (SMMF) for women with medical conditions such as fibroid, customised debit cards that provide cardholders access to discounts for spas, makeover services and furniture/household items at select outlets. Other benefits include discounts on lending rates of all existing retail loan products (e.g. personal loan, asset acquisition loan, MSME loans,) for women and free access to capacity building programmes.

  • GTBank’s SME MarketHub empowers female entrepreneurs

    SME MarketHub has partnered with She Leads Africa to support African women entrepreneurs. The groups have also announced the top six finalists for the 2015 She Leads Africa Entrepreneur Showcase holding this month in Lagos.

    Now in its second edition, the initiative, sponsored by GTBank is aimed  at beaming a spotlight on women who are driving Africa’s growth through leadership, commerce and innovation by providing a veritable platform for young female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses across Africa and compete for $10,000 in cash prizes, direct access to investors and international media exposure.

    This year, applications were received from over 400 startups in 20 countries before six  finalists (i.e. Beauty Rev NG, Heat Free Hair, Heels In the Kitchen, InstaHealth, Kamokini and Omolata) were selected to pitch their businesses to a panel of leading business personalities including Segun Agbaje, Managing Director of GTBank plc; Tunde Folawiyo, Managing Director of Folawiyo Group; Huda Al Lawati, Abraaj Capital Midle East and North Africa Chief Investment Officer; Acha Leke, Director, Mckinsey & Company; Mo Abudu, Founder of Ebony Life TV.

    According to Mr. Yasmin Belo-Osagie, co-founder of SLA, “We are very excited about the judging panel for this year’s She Leads Africa Entrepreneur Showcase. The panel is made up of established and well-respected individuals from the consulting, media and finance sectors. Each judge’s professional insight and experience will play an important role in deciding the winners of this year’s Entrepreneur Showcase.

    Commenting on the development, Segun Agbaje, Managing Director/CEO of GTBank said: “empowering SMEs across Africa remains pivotal to the sustenance of growth and development in emerging economies across the world. It is for this reason that using our SME MarketHub platform, we have strategically targeted this sector to provide opportunities and create value for all our customers. He further stated that “SME businesses listed on the GTBank SME MarketHub can take advantage of the “She Hive”, a one week training programme sponsored by the SME MarketHub of the bank to train small business owners on capacity building, business ethics and global best practices. Tickets for the pitch competition are available on the SME MarketHub.