Small and Medium Scale Enterprises (SMEs) play critical role in achieving sustainable economic growth. But for SMEs to thrive, issues around funding and capacity building are critical.
The Women’s Day edition of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Business Series recently held in Lagos presented opportunity to equip the bank’s customers, especially the women with the strategies to help build successful businesses.
The economies of great nations thrive on the strength and output of Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), widely seen as engine of growth.
The benefits of providing capacity building and funding for SMEs are huge. Banks with foresight are therefore taking steps to invest and support SMEs in the interest of the economy.
United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc is one of the banks that is investing and supporting SMEs. The bank used the opportunity provided by the Women’s Day edition of the United Bank for Africa (UBA) Business Series tagged ‘Her Story’ and meant to celebrate the 2024 International Women’s Day (IWD) to demonstrate its commitment to SMEs, especially women-led businesses.
During the event, held at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos, successful female business entrepreneurs used the event to advise SME operators and would-be business owners to focus on meeting specific needs of customers and also promoting tier own self-development.
These, the speakers said would create a path towards building prosperous brands in the short and long-term.
During the hybrid event, entrepreneurs emphasised the need for SMEs to invest in themselves and have a proper working business structure as tips that will help build and grow their businesses.
The co-founder and CEO of Good Hair Ltd, Chioma Ikokwu; Founder of African Naturalistas, Atilola Moronfolu; Founder of Hello Perfect, a leading skin aesthetics and laser clinic in Nigeria, Onyeka Michael-Ugwu and Actress/Founder and Chief Executive Officer, NOUA Skin, a luxury boutique skin studio based in Lagos, Oshuwa Tunde-Imoyo, were panellists at the special women’s edition of last quarter’s UBA Business series who spoke on the theme: “Her story”.
Ojukwu who emphasised the need for meaningful partnerships and collaborations in business said, “It is important to start by solving a problem, you have to separate your lifestyle from your business and ensure that you are intentional about what you put out there. Also, get straight to the point about what you are offering your customers, no need beating about the bush,” she stated.
Buttressing Chioma’s point, Onyeka told business owners and would-be entrepreneurs to surround themselves with the right people as these are the people that will help tend to the growth of the business. “I always tell people, build a team that can give their best to your business. When you treat your team right, they will put their all into growing your business,” she said.
Atilola who was all about the advantage of a proper business structure to one’s business, said, “Get your structure right, you need to have a standard operating procedure that works whether you are physically present or not. Also, it is very important to separate your personal finances from your business finances, that way, your business learns to thrive on its own,” she explained.
On her part, Oshuwa spoke about education and investing in one’self, as she added that business owners need to hone their skills, and should not be afraid to ask for help when they need it. “I agree with Atilola and Onyeka about collaborations and I also subscribe to learning new things by investing in educating yourself, this will translate into better business decisions,” she said.
UBA’s Group Head, Marketing and Corporate Communications, Alero Ladipo, who commended the panelists for taking time off their busy schedules to share their knowledge, said UBA organises these business series frequently as they go a long way towards equipping customers, especially the women with the strategies to help build successful businesses.
“We believe that SMEs, especially those run by the females, are the engine of growth in any economy, and so, at UBA, we invest in educating our customers and Small business owners on tips that will help them run successful businesses that can impact the world,” Ladipo said.
United Bank for Africa is one of the largest employers in the financial sector on the African continent, with 25,000 employees’ group wide and serving over 35 million customers globally. Operating in 20 African countries and in the United Kingdom, the United States of America, France and the United Arab Emirates, UBA provides retail, commercial and institutional banking services, leading financial inclusion and implementing cutting edge technology.
More initiatives to support SMEs
The UBA recently instituted $100 million new loans to SMEs and other businesses across Africa that are focused on green finance projects.
UBA’s Group Managing Director, Oliver Alawuba, broke the news during the partnership signing agreement between the bank and the African Guarantee Fund (AGF) held at the UBA Head Office in Lagos. He said the move aligns with the bank’s commitment to fostering economic development and reducing poverty.
“The facility aligns with our objective to power businesses. Through this, we will lend to women-led SMEs at cheaper rates. It will demonstrate our commitment to gender equality. We will actively engage governments to create loans. It is a transformative initiative for fostering economic development,” Alawuba said.
The AGF will under the agreement provide $50 million Portfolio Guarantee for the SMEs and green finance projects that will benefit from the facility.
The AGF will further facilitate extensive capacity building for the borrowers, with special focus women-led businesses and green finance projects across the 20 countries where UBA operates in Africa
Alawuba reiterated the bank’s commitment towards supporting SMEs in Africa, especially to women-founded and managed businesses.
He said the bank’s robust network, which is spread across the 20 countries in Africa and major global financial capitals remain big advantage.
He said, “This guarantee will serve as a catalyst for the bank’s intervention for SME business, women-led and environment friendly businesses, enabling us to further extend our reach and impact. Additionally, the extensive capacity development initiatives planned for our SME customers across 20 African countries align with our vision to empower businesses, drive innovation, and foster sustainable growth.”
“I am particularly excited about our focus on advancing the AfCFTA initiative, reaffirming UBA’s $6 billion commitment to SMEs across Africa. This initiative, announced in September last year, demonstrates our dedication to supporting the economic integration of our continent,” he further said.
“Moreover, our commitment to promoting gender equality in our business is reflected in our collaboration with the Affirmative Finance Action for Women(AFAWA) protocol. Through this we will provide loans to women-owned SMEs at more concessional rates, with customer friendly collateral terms, aiming to bridge the significant financing gap faced by women in Africa, amounting to $42 billion,” Alawuba noted.
In the same vein, capacity development platforms are to be extended for free or at highly discounted rates while the partners will engage with governments across Africa to create and activate business environments that are more women friendly. It will also expand the bank’s Green Finance propositions across Africa.
Also speaking, the Group CEO of African Guarantee Fund, Jules Ngankam, said the partnership between two pan-African institutions who are both at the forefront of catalysing growth and development of SMEs will significantly drive economic growth across the continent.
“Small and medium enterprises despite being the backbone of all African economies – they account for 90 per cent of the private sector and 60 per cent of all jobs – are perceived as risky and therefore have limited access to financing. Through this guarantee facility and the technical capacity development grant support, we will de-risk SMEs with a priority on those that are owned or led by women and those that are within the green sector.
This partnership is sequel to the announcement made by United Bank for Africa (UBA) Plc, and Africa Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Secretariat in September 2024 which will help the Bank drive its $6 billion commitment to SMEs across Africa under the AfCFTA initiative.
Support for Intra-Africa trade
Intra-African trade is also a key area of strength for the UBA. The bank’s presence in 20 African countries is mainly to drive intra-African trade. Its partnership with AfCFTA is also to drive inter-African trade.
Also, the UBA is at th forefront of the partnership involving Afreximbank’s Pan-African Payment & Settlement System (PAPSS), a payment system for settlement of business transactions across Africa.
So, intra-African trade is important and Africa needs to trade more with each other and that will further improve our economic development across the continent.
Alawuba recently disclosed that UBA is a bank focused on African development. A lot has been happening in Africa and we recently met with development partners to discuss agenda for Africa’s development.
He said: “Some of our customers also share the same development agenda for Africa. And I believe that this is our time, this is the time for UBA, to work with other development partners and corporate organisations across Africa to develop the resources and opportunities that are available in Africa.”
“We are today present in 20 African countries and four other countries outside Africa. We believe that Africa has tremendous opportunities and we need to have partners, institutions that will be able to harness these opportunities for the people. So, UBA is well-positioned to facilitate business within Africa and the rest of the world”.
He said that the most important thing today is for Africa to drive financial inclusion, adding that a lot of Africans that are left out of the banking industry and that is where UBA comes in.
“UBA is in the forefront of using digital technology to drive financial inclusion. And we think that we need to build strong African institutions that will be able to support infrastructure development, support SMEs and the development of our continents.”
“Our goal is to work with several development partners who share the same vision, the vision that Africa needs to move and improve development in the continent. And this development has to be done by Africans working with like minds who believe that Africa must move forward,” he said.
Funding support for economy
The UBA also recently received a $175 million facility from the Africa Development Bank (AfDB) Group.
The fund will be channeled towards enhancing its support to the private sector and financing of infrastructure development in Nigeria.
This facility comprises a $100 million in long-term senior debt, $50 million of trade finance medium-term senior debt and a $25 million risk participation programme. The announcement was made following AfDB’s Board of Directors nod for the facility.
The long-term senior debt will enhance UBA’s capacity to finance projects in Nigeria in the key sectors of infrastructure, agriculture and related value chains, as well as manufacturing, energy, and SMEs.
