Over 2,000 Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) have so far benefitted from the First City Monument Bank (FCMB) empowerment initiative for women-owned businesses, known as SheVentures.
The programme was launched in March 2019. The benefits of the initiative cuts across mentoring, capacity building and zero interest loans, ranging from N500,000.00 to N5 million.
The FCMB SheVentures, with a unique feature of zero-interest rate for a period of three months, is anchored on supporting women with vision. I
Speaking at an event in Lagos to celebrate the one-year anniversary of FCMB SheVentures, the Group Chief Executive of FCMB Group Plc, Ladi Balogun, described the initiative as a game changer in the quest of the lender to upscale the performance of SMEs.Â
The event, which formed part of activities of FCMB to commemorate this year’s International Women’s Day, was graced by the First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun; Managing Director, Rose of Sharon Group and Executive Vice Chairman, Famfa Oil, Folorunsho Alakija (who was the Guest Speaker), a former Deputy Governor of Lagos, Sarah Sosan, other top personalities from various walks of life and several entrepreneurs.Â
The FCMB Group Chief Executive further stated that, ‘’as shown in our ranking as the number one in SME Banking in Nigeria by KPMG, we are not just focused on the basic banking procedures when it comes to our customers, but also fully committed to delivering services and offerings that ensure that they derive good returns from their relationship with us. We are excited to note that with FCMB SheVentures, we have expanded the frontiers of support to businesses in a manner that is ushering them into prosperity. FCMB is pleased to play a leading role in the quest to bring socio-economic transformation to Nigeria’’.
In her presentation titled, ‘’Women Supporting Women’’, the Guest Speaker, Alakija, who is rated as Africa’s richest woman, commended women entrepreneurs for their resilience.Â
 First Lady of Ogun State, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, urged female entrepreneurs to brace up to the challenges of the socio-economic realities, adding that with continuous enlightenment and empowerment by the private and public sectors, women advancement in all spheres would be rapid. Mrs. Abiodun advised the beneficiaries of the FCMB SheVentures initiative to consider it as an avenue for sustainable economic empowerment through which they would be gainfully employed, improve their productivity, increase their income level, become employers of labour and overall contribute to the growth of the country.
