Access Bank launches Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton Season 5

Retail giant Access Bank plc has unveiled the W initiative, Womenpreneur Pitch-a-Tonne Season 5.

The W Initiative is aimed at inspiring, connecting, and empowering women while riding on Access Bank’s vision to be the Bank of choice for women in the markets and communities being served.

This is the basis of the Bank’s mandate to empower female entrepreneurs with financial and business skills through the Womenpreneur Pitch-a-Tonne programme.

The programme is designed to provide female-owned businesses across Africa with the opportunity to access finance, world-class business training, and mentoring opportunities.

Speaking to newsmen recently, Abiodun Olubitan, Group Head W Initiative, said, “This programme has been designed to create an enabling environment for female entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. Access Bank has been a leading advocate for women’s economic empowerment in Africa, and this is the key motivation for the ‘W’ Initiative, which caters to the women's economy, particularly in the areas of financing, capacity building, and creating networking opportunities for women.

We launched the first Womenpreneur pitch-a-ton initiative in 2019 in line with our value proposition to be the No. 1 Bank of Choice for women in Nigeria, and we have received over 150,000 applications over the last 4 years, awarded the Mini-MBA training to 300 women, and provided over N45 million in grants. This year, we are making the programme bigger and better by increasing the number of women entrepreneurs who will emerge as finalists to 120.

The 2023 Womenpreneur Pitch-a-Tonne programme will officially kick off on Monday, June 26–August 11, 2023, and will offer financial grants in an exclusive, certified capacity.

The building programme and business coaching were aimed at empowering women entrepreneurs. Interested female entrepreneurs who meet the criteria of having an existing business for at least one year with at least 50% female ownership and between the age range of 18 and 55 years are eligible and required to fill out an online application on www.womenpreneur.ng.

All online applications will be reviewed and screened by independent business experts for all five hundred (500) candidates, who will be required to send in a sixty-second video pitch for the opportunity to be selected as part of the final top 120 candidates. They will benefit from an exclusive and certified Mini-MBA and receive prizes. The programme is designed for a 3-month period comprising 8 weeks of mini-MBA training in collaboration with the International Finance Corporation (IFC) and pitching sessions to a Pan-African Jury Panel where the top finalists will pitch their businesses, infusing learnings from the mini-MBA, and will stand an opportunity to win financial grants and other consolation prizes.” Abiodun concluded.

About Access Bank

Access Bank is a Nigerian multinational commercial bank owned by Access Bank Group and licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria. The bank has a strong focus on innovation, technology, and customer service and is committed to helping its customers achieve their financial goals. It aims to deliver economic growth that is profitable, sustainable, and socially relevant. With over 60 million customers, Access Bank remains the largest bank in Africa by customer base. Access Bank has made significant investments aimed at enhancing growth in the Small and Medium-sized 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 businesses, as well as other Business Support Services. The Womenpreneur Pitch-a-Tonne Programme is the first women-in-business support initiative of its kind in the industry.