Access Bank launches women pitch-a-ton 2019 initiative
Admin l Thursday, June 27, 2019
LAGOS, Nigeria – Access Bank Plc has launched its Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton 2019, a capacity building initiative which will provide financial grants as well as mini-MBA in conjunction with the International Finance Corporation (IFC, a member of the World Bank Group) for fifty winners.
The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton is targeted at women above the age of 18 years who have been in business for at least one year. 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.
She said, “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 financial grant 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 training in collaboration with the IFC. 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 the women economy particularly in the areas of capacity building and creating networking opportunities for women.”
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 mini-MBA and will stand an opportunity to win financial grants up to N5 million.”
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.
The Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton is the first women-in-business support initiative of its kind in the industry.
