The support from FirstBank will be carried out through the FirstGem loan scheme designed for female-owned or partnered MSMEs
By Eugene Onyeji
First Bank of Nigeria Ltd in partnership with ELOY Foundation, has introduced the ELOY Foundation Business Shower, created to support female entrepreneurs on their journey to building sustainable businesses.
According to a statement, the support from FirstBank will be carried out through the FirstGem loan scheme designed for female-owned or partnered MSMEs and its SMEConnect initiative.
The statement said: “The partnership focuses on key sectors of the economy and designed to have female entrepreneurs exposed to essential business skills like training, networking and the ELOY Foundation Business Toolkit, a compilation of business survival skills nuggets. The business shower will avail businesses a platform to pitch their ideas to win seed grants and join the ELOY Foundation Sustainable Empowerment Programme 2022. Participants will also be able to access the FirstGem single digit loan, where eligible.”
It said the ELOY Foundation Business Shower will hold in five locations across the country, kicking off in Lagos on June 23, 2022, before Port Harcourt on June 25, 2022, then Abuja on June 30, 2022. In July, Kano and Abia will host female business owners on the 2nd and 7th, respectively.
The ELOY Awards Foundation Business Showers will offer an avenue to sustain women empowerment by providing entrepreneurial training and mentorship from experienced businessmen and women, arming participants with tools and information to help them grow their businesses.
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According to Tewa Onasanya, Founder of the ELOY Awards Foundation, “it is not just enough to talk about empowering business owners, it is very important to sustain empowerment by providing guidance towards their business progress and giving them access to different resources to help them continue to thrive. MSMEs are the backbone of any nation and there is a great need to sustain this chain of the economy. It is on this common ground that FirstBank has partnered with the ELOY Team to contribute meaningfully in empowering women to achieve fulfilment in their chosen business endeavours.“
Speaking on the partnership, Folake An-Mumuney, Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank said, “we commend ELOY Foundation for their efforts on this initiative as the continued strengthening and inclusiveness of female driven business endeavours is essential to the growth of the national economy. We are happy to partner with ELOY Foundation on its Business Shower. Together, we will drive the entrepreneurial viability of participants and expose them to business nuggets that will take their business to the next level.
Woven into the fabric of society for over 128 years, FirstBank plays a leading role in supporting women through strategic empowerment, capacity building and mentorship programs for women in MSME, leveraging its FirstGem and SMEConnect propositions to women across diverse sectors of the economy as well as strategic partnerships with women empowerment organisations like ELOY.
Registration is currently ongoing for the ELOY Business Shower via the link below.
Female business owners are encouraged to send in their business pitch video and business plan for a spot on the ELOY Foundation Sustainable Empowerment Program and a chance to win a grant for their business.