FirstBank has said it is partnering with the ELOY Foundation to launch the ELOY Foundation Business Shower, created to support female entrepreneurs to build sustainable businesses.
It said in a statement that there was a need to empower female business owners across the country.
The statement said the support from FirstBank would be carried out through the FirstGem loan scheme designed for female-owned or partnered MSMEs and its SMEConnect initiative.
It added that the partnership focuses on key sectors of the economy and was designed to have female entrepreneurs exposed to essential business skills like training, networking and the ELOY Foundation Business Toolkit, a compilation of business survival skills nuggets.
The statement said the business shower would avail businesses a platform to pitch their ideas to win seed grants and join the ELOY Foundation Sustainable Empowerment Programme 2022.
Participants would also be able to access the FirstGem single digit loan where eligible, it added.
The Founder, ELOY Awards Foundation, Tewa Onasanya, said, “It is not just enough to talk about empowering business owners, it is very important to sustain empowerment by providing guidance towards their business progress and giving them access to different resources to help them continue to thrive.
“MSMEs are the backbone of any nation and there is a great need to sustain this chain of the economy.
“It is on this common ground that FirstBank has partnered with the ELOY team to contribute meaningfully in empowering women to achieve fulfilment in their chosen business endeavours.”
The Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, FirstBank, Folake An-Mumuney, said, “We commend ELOY Foundation for their efforts on this initiative as the continued strengthening and inclusiveness of female driven business endeavours is essential to the growth of the national economy.
“We are happy to partner with ELOY Foundation on its business shower. Together, we will drive the entrepreneurial viability of participants and expose them to business nuggets that will take their business to the next level.”
