As part of the efforts to provide financial and business skills to female entrepreneurs, Access Bank Plc has announced the launch of its Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton 2019.
The Coordinator, W Initiative in Access Bank, Ayona Aguele-Trimnell, said on Wednesday in Lagos that the Pitch-A-Ton was an expansion of the Womenpreneur Business Workshop.
Aguele-Trimnell said that the capacity building initiative would provide financial grants as well as mini-MBA, in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC, a member of the World Bank Group) for 50 winners.
According to her, Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton is targeted at women above the age of 18 years who have been in business for at least one year.
She said that the initiative would provide up to N10 million financial grant, and a unique capacity building programme aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs.
“The Pitch-A-Ton is designed as a 3-month programme incorporating pitching sessions and 3 weeks of mini-MBA training in collaboration with the IFC.
“Access Bank has been a leading advocate for women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria.
“This is the key motivation for the W Initiative which caters for the women economy, particularly in the areas of capacity building and creating networking opportunities for women,’’ she said.
Also, Ada Udechukwu, Head, Women Banking, said interested persons who meet the criteria are required to apply online.
She said that 500 candidates selected from the pool would then send in a 60 seconds video pitch which would be screened by a credible panel of business experts to select 50 finalists.
“As part of the graduation requirements, the 50 finalists will pitch their businesses, infusing learnings from the mini-MBA and will stand an opportunity to win financial grants up to N5 million,’’ she said.
Udechukwu said that Access Bank had made significant investments aimed at enhancing growth in the Small and Medium Enterprise.
She said that the bank was 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.
According to her, the finance was for women to grow their businesses as well as other Business Support Services.
Udechukwu said that the Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton is the first women-in-business support initiative of its kind in the banking industry. (NAN)