Banking
Access Bank Kicks Off Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Season 3

By Modupe Gbadeyanka
One of the leading financial institutions in Africa, Access Bank Plc, has unveiled the third edition of its Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa programme.
The initiative is part of the lender’s mandate to empower female entrepreneurs on the continent with financial and business skills.
The Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa programme was designed to provide female-owned businesses across Africa an opportunity to access finance, world-class business trainings as well as mentoring opportunities.
It was also designed to create an enabling environment for female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses.
“Access Bank has been a leading advocate for women’s economic empowerment in Africa and this is the key motivation for the ‘W’ Initiative which caters to the women economy particularly in the areas of financing, capacity building and creating networking opportunities for women,” the Group Head of W Initiative, Ms Ayona Trimnell, stated at the launch of the third edition of the scheme.
She further stated that “we launched the first Womenpreneur pitch-a-ton initiative in 2019 in line with our value proposition to be the No. 1 Bank of Choice for women in Nigeria, and we have received over 100,000 applications over the last 2 years.”
“In 2020, despite the pandemic, we were able to expand the programme to other female entrepreneurs across 7 African countries with 3 winners emerging from Sierra Leone, Ghana and Zambia out of 50 finalists.
“This year we are making the programme bigger and better by increasing the numbers to 100 women entrepreneurs who will emerge as finalists.
“The programme will also be opening up to a total of 9 African countries – Nigeria, Ghana, Zambia, Rwanda, Mozambique, Kenya, Democratic Republic of Congo, Sierra Leone and the Gambia,” Ms Trimnell added.
The 2021 Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Africa programme officially kicked off on Monday, June 21 – August 13, 2021, and will offer financial grants, an exclusive certified capacity building program and business coaching aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs.
Interested female entrepreneurs who meet the criteria of having an existing business for at least one year with at least 50 per cent female ownership and between the age range of 18-45 years are eligible and required to fill an online application on www.womenpreneur.ng.
All online applications will be reviewed and screened by independent business experts to 500 candidates who will be required to send in a sixty-second video pitch for the opportunity to be selected as part of the final top 100 candidates who will benefit from an exclusive and certified Mini-MBA and grant prizes.
“The programme is designed as a 3-month period comprising 12 weeks of mini-MBA training in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and pitching sessions to a Pan-African Jury panel where the top 100 finalists will pitch their businesses, infusing learnings from the mini-MBA and will stand an opportunity to win financial grants and other consolation prizes,” she said.
As a leading commercial bank in Nigeria, Access Bank has made significant investments aimed at enhancing growth in the Small and Medium-size Enterprise sector.
The bank is also a major advocate for women in business through innovative offerings like the W Power Loan, a discounted financing at 15 per cent interest per annum, for women to grow their business as well as other Business Support Services.
Banking
UBA Resolves ‘Transfers to Other Banks’ Glitch on Mobile Banking App

By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc has restored full service to its mobile banking app after some customers experienced difficulties completing financial transactions from the platform.
Business Post reports that earlier, some UBA customers could not make fund transfers to other financial institutions from the mobile app.
The lender quickly swung into action to resolve the issue and has fully restored its mobile banking app service, with customers now able to send funds to other banks via the platform.
Confirming this development, the bank, in a notice to customers on Thursday afternoon, said, “We are pleased to inform you that the transfers to other banks service has been restored on the UBA Mobile Banking App.
“We sincerely apologise for any inconvenience this may have caused and reassure you of our commitment to continuously improve our services.”
While thanking them for their patience and understanding, UBA advised any customer still experiencing “any further issues [to] please contact our CFC support team.”
“For enquiries, please contact our 24-hour Customer Fulfilment Centre (CFC) on 02012808822 or send us an email at [email protected],” the message said.
Banking
Ecobank Partners China’s XTransfer to Empower African SMEs Foreign Trade

By Adedapo Adesanya
African lender, Ecobank, has partnered with China’s business-to-business (B2B) cross-border trade payment platform, XTransfer, to empower African Small and Medium-sized Enterprises (SMEs) foreign trade.
XTransfer will leverage Ecobank’s extensive network across Africa, enabling its Chinese clients to collect funds in local African currencies while assisting African SMEs in making payments in their local currencies to negate foreign exchange (FX) issues.
The two parties have signed a landmark Memorandum of Understanding of Cooperation (MOU) to roll out comprehensive cross-border financial services that will facilitate trade between China and African countries.
In recent years, China and Africa have continued to deepen trade cooperation, with the scale of imports and exports rising rapidly. In 2023, bilateral trade reached a record $282 billion. From January to November 2024, China’s exports to Africa totalled $160 billion, a 1.4 per cent increase from the previous year, while imports from Africa reached US$107 billion, marking a substantial rise of 6.6 per cent.
Despite this growth, African SMEs engaged in foreign trade face numerous challenges related to cross-border payments and fund collections. These challenges include difficulties in opening accounts with traditional banks, a high risk of funds being frozen, difficulties in foreign exchange and related losses, lengthy remittance times and high remittance costs.
The partnership between XTransfer and Ecobank Group will foster collaboration between both parties to provide comprehensive cross-border payment solutions for African SMEs’ foreign trade.
XTransfer will leverage Ecobank’s extensive network across Africa, enabling its Chinese clients to collect funds in local African currencies while assisting African SMEs in making payments in their local currencies to negate foreign exchange issues.
The partnership also seeks to help reduce the costs of global trade and enhance the global competitiveness of African SMEs.
Speaking on this move, Mr Bill Deng, Founder and CEO of XTransfer, stated, “We are excited about the partnership with Ecobank. This collaboration represents a significant milestone for XTransfer and greatly enhances our global payment capabilities. Leveraging Ecobank’s extensive payment network in Africa will accelerate our business expansion in the region.
“We are looking forward to the synergies and opportunities this partnership will create. Together, we will drive innovation and improve the financial landscape, making financial services more efficient and accessible for African SMEs.”
On his part, Mr Jeremy Awori, CEO of Ecobank Group, said by collaborating with XTransfer, Ecobank is strengthening its position as a key player in the global payments industry by reducing trade barriers, enabling African SMEs to thrive in international markets and contributing to the continent’s sustainable development.
“We are proud to partner with XTransfer to advance seamless cross-border payment solutions between Africa and China. This partnership builds on our established strategy, which includes a representative office in China and a dedicated China desk.
“By integrating XTransfer’s cutting-edge solutions with our pan-African payment platform, we simplify payments, reduce transaction costs, and enable African businesses to thrive in global trade.”
Banking
Shareholders Embrace Stanbic IBTC N148.7bn Rights Issue

By Aduragbemi Omiyale
The N148.7 billion rights issue of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc has continued to attract the interest of shareholders of the company because of the track record of the financial services provider.
The rights issue commenced on January 15, 2025, and is expected to close of February 21, 2025. The exercise offers existing shareholders the opportunity to increase their stake in the company from the available 2,944,772,083 ordinary shares of 50 Kobo each at N50.50 per share.
Business Post reports that the rights issue is structured on a ratio of five new ordinary shares for every 22 ordinary shares held as of October 29, 2024.
Stanbic IBTC created the rights issue to strengthen its capital base, enhance its funding capacity and position it for sustainable growth as it will enable the company’s banking subsidiary meet the new minimum capital requirement set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), thereby ensuring regulatory compliance and potentially strengthening its Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAR).
“The pricing of our rights issue acknowledges the confidence of our shareholders have in the company’s vision and strategy.
“We are committed to delivering value to our shareholders and stakeholders, and this rights issue is a critical step in achieving our goals,” the acting chief executive of the firm, Mr Kunle Adedeji, said when Stanbic IBTC Holdings held its Facts Behind the Rights Issue at the Nigerian Exchange (NGX) Limited in Lagos last month,
“At Stanbic IBTC Holdings, we believe that strong shareholder support is the cornerstone of our growth.
“The rights issue reflects our stakeholders’ trust in our company and reinforces our commitment to delivering sustainable returns.
“Together, we will navigate the path to success and continue to achieve our strategic objectives,” he added.
On his part, the chief executive of Stanbic IBTC Bank, Mr Wole Adeniyi, said, “This is a significant milestone in our journey to becoming Nigeria’s leading financial services organisation and a critical step in our efforts to meet the evolving needs of our customers and stakeholders.
“We are committed to maintaining our leadership position in the industry, and this capital raise will enable us to invest in our business, drive innovation, and deliver sustainable returns to our shareholders.”
Speaking further, he expressed the gratitude of the company to its shareholders for demonstrating their “confidence in our ability to deliver long-term value.”
“This rights issue will enable us to build on our strengths, capitalise on new opportunities, and drive growth and profitability in the coming years.
“This is an exciting time for Stanbic IBTC Holdings and Stanbic IBTC Bank, and we are pleased to have commenced this important capital raise.
“We are well-positioned to drive growth, innovation, and customer satisfaction, and we look forward to continuing to deliver value to our stakeholders,” Mr Adeniyi said.
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