Access Bank ‘W Initiative’ trains 75,000 women entrepreneurs
Access Bank Plc PHOTO: thescoopng.com
An initiative of Access Bank, ‘W Initiative’ has provided skills support to 75,000 women in Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) across the country.
This is coming shortly after Season two of the transformational workshop, which held recently in Abuja and Port Harcourt for 350 female entrepreneurs.
The bank said since the introduction of the initiative in 2014, more than 75,000 businesswomen across the geopolitical zones of the country have benefitted from the workshop recording increase in their business networks and improved business models in spite of the economic constraints.
The initiative was also designed to address the lack of access to entrepreneurial skills, finance, networking and management skills, which are the key barriers to women’s economic inclusion.
The objective is to provide a discounted and practical capacity building programme that would expose female business owners to the nation’s economic reality as well as help them simplify processes and sharpen the requisite skills needed to grow their businesses.
Group Head, Product Sales of Access Bank Plc., Mrs. Ope Wemi-Jones, while addressing women from all walks of life in Lagos at the weekend, said Access Bank has continued to drive women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria.
“We have trained 75,000 women across the country in 81 locations around 19 states in finance, education, SMEs, event planning among others. The bank has continued in its commitment to help women overcome the cultural and financial barriers toward harnessing their potentials both as women and business owners in Nigeria,” she added.
According to Wemi-Jones, the initiative is intended to educate and enlighten Nigerian women on the fundamentals of business, which would eventually help them attain their full potentials.
She explained that the bank’s commitment to inspire, connect and empower women would continue to contribute to the growth of SME’s in Nigeria with its resultant economic benefits.
Earlier, the Group Managing Director of the bank, Herbert Wigwe said the bank has not recorded any bad loan on the initiative since inception.
“We have not even have .one per cent bad loan supporting women. So we have done so many things and won many accolades on things that have to do with supporting women in technical skills, knowledge and others,” he said.
