If you’re a woman aged 18 or above and running your own business, this could be your chance to win some funding for your enterprise.
Access Bank has announced that it’s organizing a new program, which it calls the Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton. As part of the program, women who own a business are invited to pitch their venture to the bank’s panel of experts. If they impress, they could be receiving world-class training, plus a reward of ₦5 million.
This drive is cast as a capacity building effort, which should see hundreds of women share their innovative small business ideas, and several of them receive grants from Access Bank. Officials at the institution point out that it’s really an extension of existing women-friendly financial offerings under its W-initiative, which has been around for over a decade.
Ayona Aguele-Trimnell, the coordinator of the bank’s W-initiative, alludes to this in her comments about the program.
“Access Bank has been a leading advocate for women’s economic empowerment in Nigeria,” she says. “And this is the key motivator for the W-Initiative which caters to women particularly in the area of capacity building and creating network opportunities.”
Persons whose applications for the program are accepted by the bank will get trained in mini MBA series courtesy of the International Finance Corporation (IFC), a member of the World Bank Group. They will also have access to the special funding packages available through the W-Initiative.
Ultimately, the top participant could win the ₦5 million grand prize on offer. Second and third-placed persons will receive ₦3 million and ₦2 million each.
Eligibility
You’re eligible to apply for this program if you’re a woman resident in Nigeria and you’ve been operating your own business in the country for a year or more. You can also apply if you’re a joint owner of a business, as long as you own at least 50% of that business, or are managing it on behalf of a partner.
Application and Selection Process
Visit Access Bank’s Womenpreneur website, submit your details there, and create an online profile.
About 500 women will be selected from the mass of applicants at this stage. If you’re one of them, you will be asked to record a 60-second video in which you pitch your business, and upload it on the website. If you’re not sure what your pitch should look like, this article should help you.
The video entries will be scrutinized, and 50 finalists will be selected from the lot. These 50 women will undergo a two-week mini MBA training from the International Finance Corporation (IFC). After this, they will pitch their businesses to a panel of experts; this second pitch should reflect some of the things they learn from the mini MBA.
The persons with the top three pitches will receive the main prizes.
Applications for this program will end on Friday, August 9.
If you would like to enter for the Access Bank Pitch-A-Ton program, you can click here to visit its official website.
Featured image source: Footprint to Africa
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