The first ever Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton in the nation’s financial industry has been launched by Access Bank Nigeria Plc.
The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton comes as part of efforts of the Bank to provide financial and business skills to female entrepreneurs. The initiative comes with capacity building opportunities which will provide financial grants as well as mini-MBA trainings in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC, a member of the World Bank Group) for fifty winners.
Speaking on the initiative, Ayona Aguele-Trimnell, Coordinator, W Initiative, Access Bank, stated that the Pitch-A-Ton is an expansion of the Womenpreneur Business Workshop, under the Bank’s women proposition, the W Initiative.
“In line with our value proposition as the No. 1 Bank of Choice for women in Nigeria, we are happy to announce the launch of the Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton 2019 which will provide up to N10 million in financial grants and a unique capacity building program 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 trainings in collaboration with the IFC.
The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton is targeted at women above the age of 18 who have been in business for at least one year.
“Access Bank has been a leading advocate for women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria and this is the key motivation for the W Initiative which caters to women particularly in the areas of capacity building and creating networking opportunities” she added.
Explaining the mechanics for participation, Ada Udechukwu, Head, Women Banking said: “Interested persons who meet the criteria are required to fill an online application. The five hundred candidates selected from this pool will then send in a sixty seconds video pitch which will be screened by a credible panel of business experts to select fifty finalists.”
“As part of the graduation requirements, the fifty finalists will pitch their businesses, infusing learnings from the training and the winner will stand an opportunity to win N5 million in financial grants.” She added.
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% interest per annum, for women to grow their business as well as other Business Support Services.
