Ecobank lifts women with special loan scheme

By EMEKA EJERE

Recently, Ecobank Nigeria took its “Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs Initiative”, to another level with the unveiling of a special loan package to empower female entrepreneurs in the country. The Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs Initiative (EFEI), was launched last year as part of activities marking the 2019 International Women’s Day.

According to the bank, the platform is designed to recognise women as special and unique customers who require tailor-made service offerings. Ecobank also stated that the concept is designed to provide women with the necessary support to help them excel in their endeavours, promote and grow their businesses and generally position them for increased participation, validation and contribution within the society.

Managing director, Ecobank Nigeria, Mr Patrick Akinwuntan, while unveiling the initiative at the bank’s head office in Lagos, said “increasingly, we are seeing the change in the attitudes of women, and their economic viability as individuals and leaders in their fields. Their banking and financial services as a whole, therefore present vast opportunities, if properly understood and managed.”

According to Akinwuntan, the launch is a charge to the society in line with the theme of the International Women’s Day 2019, to challenge the status quo and strive for a balance by empowering females in their immediate environments and subsequently, on a macro level.

Speaking further, he said, “Our female customers will become our flagship ambassadors and we have created this platform for them in line with the sustainability requirements of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).

“These women will be provided with free health checks, training and empowerment sessions and other support tools from Ecobank. The Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs Initiative aims at empowering women by helping them build capacity to grow their businesses.”

Some of the benefits, the bank said, include access to credit facilities with little or no collateral, network opportunities across Africa, financial advisory services, wealth management resources and loyalty schemes. The recently unveiled special loan package to empower female entrepreneurs in the country is a further demonstration that the target beneficiaries have already started feeling the impact of the initiative.

According to head, Consumer Asset Product, Ecobank Group, Daberechi Effiong, the EFEI loan is targeted at boosting small scale businesses owned by women. She adds that it is a further demonstration of the importance the bank attaches to the role of women in sustainable development and contribution to the nation’s economy.

Mrs Effiong, who doubles as the EFEI coordinator, explained that prospective female business owners could access credit with interest rates as low as 1 per cent, noting that the process for accessing the credit facility is easy and stress-free.

“The EFEI loan is one of our several ways of further encouraging female entrepreneurs in the country. As a bank, we believe empowering women will enable them to play their role better in society and the economy.

“This loan would position them for increased participation, validation and contribution to their communities. The terms and conditions for accessing the loan are simple and easily such that many female entrepreneurs could readily avail themselves of the opportunity and grow their business.”

She advised the women business owners to approach the bank online through the bank’s social media platforms.

Digital training for women

Also as part of its initiative to continuously encourage female entrepreneurs in the country, Ecobank Nigeria in February trained over 140 female business owners on digital marketing skills. A statement from the bank explained that the empowerment programme organised by its Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs’ Initiative (EFEI) drew participants from Lagos and its environs.

Speaking at the event, Mrs Effiong, said the training was focused on building participants’ digital marketing skills to boost their businesses online. She stressed that apart from growing their businesses, the training would position them for increased participation, validation and contribution to their communities.

 Effiong further explained, “The training focused on social media marketing, search engine optimisation, content building and the Ecobank female entrepreneurs’ opportunities. This is designed to provide them with the necessary support to excel in their endeavours, promote and grow their businesses.”

She pointed out that the objectives of EFEI initiative was to foster deeper and longer relationship with women in business by providing a profitable banking platform for their growth and success and making Ecobank the first choice Bank for women across the country.

 “In line with the Initiative’s value proposition, women across Nigeria are meant to be trained on skills that will enhance the growth and expansion of their businesses. This is the first tranche of the capacity building training for 2020. We will take the empowerment to other parts of the country during the year,” she stated.

Efforts made by our Correspondent to have the bank’s head of Corporate Affairs, Austin Osokpo, comment on the success of the initiative so far yielded no result as at the time of filing this report as he neither took his calls nor responded to a text message sent to his line.

Ecobank Nigeria, one of the commercial banks licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria, began operations in 1989. It operates as a universal bank, providing wholesale, retail, corporate, investment and transaction banking services to its customers in the Nigerian market.

The bank divides its operations into three major divisions: Retail Banking; Wholesale Banking and Treasury & Financial Institutions. The bank also offers capital markets and investment banking services. During the fourth quarter of 2011, Ecobank Nigeria through its parent company Ecobank Transnational Inc. (ETI) acquired 100% of the shareholding in Oceanic Bank, creating the expanded Ecobank Nigeria Limited.[

As of December 2011, the expanded Ecobank Nigeria controlled total assets valued at approximately US$8.1 billion (NGN:1.32 trillion), making it one of the five largest banks in Nigeria at the time. At that time the bank had 610 free-standing branches, making it the second-largest bank in the country by branch network.