Banking
Access Bank, Firm Support Digitalisation of Women Businesses
By Sodeinde Temidayo David
Nigerian multinational commercial bank, Access Bank Plc, through the W Initiative, has partnered with SME.NG, an organization in Lagos for women, to provide a one-stop-shop solution for women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
The W initiative by Access bank is a brand dedicated to inspiring, connecting, and empowering women in all categories, which include capacity building programs exclusive to women, mentoring programmes, and maternal health services, all aimed at helping to build a bigger, stronger and more sustainable society.
The partnership of the bank with SME.NG saw the launch of Ebi Marketplace, in a bid to promote the bank operation in providing female entrepreneurs with an opportunity to access easy finance, wider market, technical as well as business support to be of fundamental importance.
The Ebi Marketplace is an online platform that will be Nigeria’s first all women’s e-marketplace with a fusion of financial services, trading opportunities, access to advisory services, mentorship, networking and so much more.
Speaking on the bank’s interest to support female-owned businesses, the Executive Director of Retail Banking Division, Mr Victor Etuokwu, noted that women SMEs face major challenges in the areas of funding, business networks, technical know-how and business management amongst others.
Mr Etuokwu added that it is vital to support the digitization of women-owned businesses in Nigeria by providing them with economic opportunities, business sustainability, and improving resilience to the negative effects of the economic downturn which would reduce the bottlenecks faced in running their businesses.
Also according to him, Access Bank, through the W Initiative, is set to onboard 1,500 female entrepreneurs on the Ebi Marketplace platform to ensure viability and resilience to economic shocks.
In her remarks, the Managing Director of SME.NG, Ms Thelma Ekiyor, commended the bank, also stating that Access Bank’s commitment to women through the W initiative makes the bank the ideal partner for the Ebi Marketplace
Access Bank’s commitment to empowering female entrepreneurs is set to continue contributing immensely to the growth of SMEs in Nigeria and further impact the social and economic growth of the country.
By Adedapo Adesanya
MTN Nigerian Communications Plc has announced that its fintech subsidiary, MoMo PSB Limited, has formally commenced commercial operations in the country.
In a notice on Thursday at the Nigerian Exchange, MTN said the development followed a successful pilot initiated on May 16, 2022, in commemoration of the launch of its GSM operations on May 16, 2001, and listing by introduction on the Nigerian Exchange Limited on May 16, 2019.
“Indeed, this is a key milestone in delivering the company’s Ambition 2025 strategic priorities,” the notice said.
The company said with an expansive agent network of over 166,000 active agents and digitized partnership infrastructure, MoMo PSB “is poised to enable millions of unbanked and under-banked Nigerians to access a wide range of financial service products.
“MoMo PSB will continue to scale its agent network in order to reach Nigerians across the country and remove friction from everyday payment by digitizing cash payment.
“By dialling *671# on any network, customers can open a MoMo wallet, send money to any phone number in the country and pay their bills.
“In addition, MoMo wallets in the future will enable Nigerians in the Diaspora to send money to any phone number in the country, an important feature given Nigeria’s ranking as the destination for the highest remittance inflow in Sub-Saharan Africa.”
The CEO of MTN Nigeria, Mr Karl Toriola, appreciated the support and guidance of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the process and noted that this will help the country’s financial inclusion.
“This is an important milestone for MTN Nigeria in our mission to support the government’s drive towards financial inclusion in Nigeria. Not just for those in urban centres and markets, but also people in the rural and remote areas of the country who remain excluded from the financial system,” he stated.
On his part, MoMo PSB CEO, Mr Usoro Usoro said: “Providing easy to use, accessible and affordable financial services to all Nigerians is essential to executing the CBN’s financial inclusion strategy and digital inclusion agenda of the Minister of communications and Digital Economy.
“We look forward to playing our part and are excited about the opportunities to partner with relevant institutions across various sectors to co-create and expand access nationwide.”
This is coming on the same day that MTN’s rival, Airtel announced its subsidiary, SmartCash Payment Service Bank Limited (SmartCash PSB), has commenced operations in Nigeria.
By Adedapo Adesanya
Airtel Africa has announced that its subsidiary, SmartCash Payment Service Bank Limited (SmartCash PSB), has commenced operations in Nigeria.
Services will initially be available at selected retail touchpoints, and operations will be expanded gradually across the country over the next few months.
Speaking on the development, Mr Segun Ogunsanya, Airtel Africa chief executive officer, said, “I am very excited to announce our commencement of operations for financial services in Nigeria through SmartCash PSB. This is the beginning of our journey to revolutionise the financial services landscape in the country.
“To help further digitise the economy, and most importantly to help bank the unbanked by reaching the millions of Nigerians who do not currently have access to financial services by delivering current and savings accounts, payment and remittance services, debit and prepayment cards and more sophisticated services.”
This is coming less than one month after the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) granted the company the license to operate mobile money services in the country.
The licence will enable the telco to expand its digital financial products and reach the millions of Nigerians that do not currently have access to traditional financial services.
It will also be able to augment plans by the Nigerian Government, the CBN, and traditional financial institutions to further deepen financial inclusion in the country for the benefit of all citizens and the Nigerian economy.
Airtel Africa is a leading provider of telecommunications and mobile money services with a presence in 14 countries across Africa.
By Modupe Gbadeyanka
A leading microfinance bank supporting small businesses, Advans La Fayette Microfinance Bank Limited, has introduced education loans aimed to provide funding support to school owners and parents.
A statement from the small lending institution said the education loan products created for its customers are the Advans School Boost, Advans Eduloan and Advans Kiddies.
It was explained that the Advans School Boost is a product designed to provide working and investment capital for school owners, Advans Eduloan is to assist parents to pay their children’s school fees with ease, while the Advans Kiddies is high-yield savings account to help parents save towards the future of their children while still earning interest.
According to the Marketing and Communication Manager of Advans La Fayette MFB, Mr Kayode Abraham, “The process of accessing the education loans is neither rigorous nor daunting.”
“Simply visit our website: www.advansnigeria.com to complete the application form and receive the funds immediately, if eligible,” he advised.
The Project Manager of Advans La Fayette MFB, Ms Fanny Belhomme, stated that, “Advans School Boost allows school owners to access loans up to N75 million to cover school expenses. The loan has a very competitive interest rate, a flexible repayment plan and no hidden costs.
“Parents can access up to N500,000 with the Advans Eduloan, to pay their children’s school fees. The loan is easy to access, with a low-interest rate and flexible repayment plans,” she added.
The Managing Director of the lender, Mr Gaëtan Debuchy, while speaking at the unveiling of the products at the Shoregate Hotels, Ikeja, Lagos, disclosed that the firm came up with the loan packages because “we recognised that lack of finance is one of the biggest banes of education.”
“Emboldened by the fact that investment in quality education yields the best dividend, we created these products to offer solutions to the challenge. As a leading microfinance bank, we are focused on providing premium financial services to our customers,” he added.
Advans Nigeria is a member of Advans Group; a leading international microfinance group currently serving over 1.1 million clients in 10 countries including Cambodia, Cameroon, Ghana, Democratic Republic of Congo, Cote d’Ivoire, Pakistan, Nigeria, Tunisia and Myanmar.
For more than 15 years, the bank has offered a complete range of financial services that has helped build over 4 million small businesses.
