Poised to expand the scope of opportunities available for women-owned businesses, particularly, in Bonny Local Government Area of Rivers State, a non-governmental organization, Female in Business Initiative (FBI) and Ecobank Plc. are partnering to achieve this objective.

This was made public at a Community Outreach Programme held in Bonny, organized by the Female in Business Initiative (FBI) in collaboration with Ecobank Plc. through its Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs Initiative (EFEI) between Sunday and Monday, September 19 and 20, 2021 at the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas, Bonny.  

At the event, both organizations expressed their vision of empowering the women through capacity building and access to funding opportunities to help them achieve their entrepreneurship goals.

Speaking at the event, Initiator of the FBI, Dabota Jumbo informed that her NGO was focused on creating a new dawn for businesses owned by women in the area, explaining that the FBI was designed as a platform for assisting women with the necessary support to promote and grow their businesses.

“We welcome everyone to a new dawn for females in business, especially, in our community. Female in Business Initiative (FBI) is a program platform designed to assist women with the necessary support that promotes and grows their businesses.”

“At FBI, we believe that any country that must take its place in the comity of nations cannot keep one half of its population locked up in the home while still dreaming big. Women Entrepreneurship must be given a special attention. Female entrepreneurs should be supported to succeed in their various enterprises.”

Jumbo, who is also a member of the Governing Board of the Federal College of Education (FCE), Yola, Adamawa State, clarified that FBI will “foster deeper and longer relationships with women in business by providing a profitable networking platform for their growth and success,” and also “make female entrepreneurs, especially, in the grassroots, well updated with current trends on how to run their businesses successfully”.

Giving insights into the Ecobank Female Entrepreneurs Initiative (EFEI) product for women in business, Ecobank Plc’s Regional Manager, Consumer Banking (Classic), South-South/South-East, Ndifreke Udoh, explained that it is a customized product targeted at women-owned businesses with a view to enhancing their participation in different sectors of the economy.

Also speaking, the Manager, Ecobank Plc, Bonny Island, Fabian Banigo, educated the women on the bank’s ELEVATE Business Support Loan for Women, noting that it was a credit facility tailor-made for women to access for the purposes of boosting their entrepreneurial drives.

He further informed the women about Ecobank funding opportunities for women in business which offer interest rates as low as 2%, encouraging them to maximize the various avenues created by Ecobank to deepen their business potentials.

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In his presentation at the event, which attracted over 300 women, Director of Procurement at the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas (FPOG), Bonny, Boniface Emenike mentored the participants on proper book keeping and financial literacy skills, stressing that these were critical to building a bankable profile for their businesses thus making them attractive for the fiscal institutions and investors to engage.  

Deputy Initiator of the Female in Business Initiative (FBI), Gift Green, who is also the acting Public Relations Officer of the Federal Polytechnic of Oil and Gas (FPOG), Bonny, extended the goodwill of the Polytechnic Rector, Professor Tamunoimim Abbey.

She stressed that in approving the venue for the programme, which request was routed through the institution’s Entrepreneurship Centre, Prof. Abbey’s motivation was predicated on giving fillip to the entrepreneurial aspirations of the women of Bonny Kingdom.