FCMB, SME.NG and WFW Group Urge Women to take the Lead in Driving Growth of Businesses and Development
Posted 4 years ago
by shakiez893
Women in Nigeria have been
urged to play a more active and frontal role to stimulate the growth of
businesses and overall development. In addition, they have been advised to
pursue leadership roles in their communities and the corporate world so as to
rise to the top echelon of decision making in order to champion policies and
programmes that would ensure sustainable development.
The advice was
given by the President and Chief Executive Officer, Global Fund for Women
(GFW), Ms. Latanya Mapp Frett, who was the Special Guest Speaker at the 4th
edition of the Women Financing Women (WFW) Group meeting hosted by leading
financial services provider, First City Monument Bank (FCMB) and SME.NG (Nigeria’s SME Impact Investment
Platform) in Lagos on Thursday, June 25, 2020.
The WFM
quarterly meeting, which was held virtually and recorded 30 registered
attendees, provided a platform for women entrepreneurs to come together and
share experiences on how the novel COVID-19(coronavirus) pandemic has affected
businesses and proffer solutions to the various challenges posed by the
pandemic. The WFW Group, conceptualised by SME.NG in 2019, is an assemblage of
women-led funds, investors and financial institutions with diverse portfolios
that focus on assisting women to secure finance for their businesses in
Nigeria. On the other hand, SME.NG is an impact investment platform
that invests in Nigerian Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) to realise
measurable environmental, social and financial returns.
According to Ms. Frett, the absence of women in key leadership positions has limited the ability and capacity of women-owned businesses, including Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs), to secure the relevant support to ensure their success.
She stated
that, "the inability of women to reach the very top of leadership
positions is a limitation to reach our goals. These include long term
opportunities to influence the attainment of international sustainability
targets in a manner that would impact positively on the well-being of women and
their endeavours, especially in the area of business and other socio-economic
activities".
Ms. Frett
informed that the Global Fund for Women has in the last 35 years intervened and
supported women in various ways. She listed this to include funding of over
5,000 women-owned businesses across the world since the outbreak of the
COVID-19 pandemic, and the creation of a feminist funding model, under which
GFW works with a network of partners to ensure that women can fund the business
of other women through grants of between $10,000 and $100,000 for a period of
3yrs.
In addition,
she disclosed that the Fund is in partnership with the United Nations and other
multilateral organisations to sustain girls’ education following the COVID-19
pandemic, while also initiating a Crisis Fund for the pandemic. She added that
the funds are used to provide relief items, health services and other
essentials across communities. Ms. Frett urged financial institutions to,
"focus on the overall social Impact beyond their funding to businesses by
determining which ones with limited resources they can continue to fund and
have multiplier effect in this critical period".
Also speaking
at the meeting, the Executive Director, Business Development FCMB, Mrs. Bukola
Smith, stated that FCMB has been supporting businesses for several years and
has been very deliberate in this regard for women owned SMEs. This includes the
setting up of a women in business proposition, known as SheVentures to meet the
various needs of women entrepreneurs.
“SheVentures is a brand for FCMB’s Women in Business proposition, which provides financial and business support to women owned businesses enabling them to unlock potential, scale up and build sustainable businesses with significant impact on the economy", she explained.
Mrs. Smith, who
is a prominent member of WFW, noted that the FCMB SheVentures initiative is
centered on 4 pillars; Access to capital which encompasses the SheVentures zero
interest loan granted to over 160 Women SMEs since last year, Gender
Intervention Funds and Equity funding through collaboration with SME.NG to give ready women SMEs access to
women investors; Access to knowledge which ensures that women entrepreneurs are
guided with the proper training and robust mentorship programs to help them
navigate and understand the business environment; Access to network and Access
to market".
She restated
the commitment of FCMB to sustain its support for women entrepreneurs, adding
that, "through the profitable and beneficial business models we have
developed for women entrepreneurs, we have gone a step further by ensuring that
SMEs that have benefitted from our support in turn go ahead to improve the
social state of their communities positively. We look forward to learn more on
how to support female entrepreneurs given the challenges faced due to the COVID
-19 Pandemic”.
The Managing
Partner for SME.NG, Ms. Thelma Ekiyor, informed that the
organisation, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and
Nigeria Association of Chambers of Commerce, Industry, Mines and Agriculture
(NACCIMA), conducted a “National Survey on the Impact of COVID-19 on
Women-owned Businesses”. 1,300 women entrepreneurs in 30 states participated in
the survey to determine their challenges and needs. She added that a key
recommendation from the survey, is for a Fund to be domiciled at the Federal
Ministry for Women’s Affairs to support women entrepreneurs in recovering from
the pandemic.
Ms. Ekiyor also
mentioned that SME.NG is working with FCMB and GroFin (a
SME development financier) to provide finance to women-owned businesses, who
graduate from their Accelerator “She Works Here”.
Women Entrepreneurs at the meeting gave testimonials about their experiences on the effects of covid-19 on their businesses. Notable among the achievements recorded is an increase in the number of jobs created, an indication that their respective businesses are growing in a sustainable manner.
The participants also advised that women entrepreneurs should tap into and harness the benefits of e-commerce and all other forms of business digitization.
For more
information about FCMB, please visit www.fcmb.com.
Comments ( 22 )
fame2020
Good new for us women, let us continue to urge us to put our heads together for better tomorrow
4 years ago