First Bank, Eloy Awards Foundation Empower Over 1000 Women in MSMEs at Business Shower 2023

Mary Nnah

The ELOY Awards Foundation in partnership with First Bank launched the 2023 Edition of the “ELOY Business Shower”, designed and dedicated to encouraging, promoting and empowering businesses owned by women across Nigeria.

The focus and aim are to expose women in business to important business skills, networking, and the Eloy Foundation Business Toolkit, which is a collection of business survival information. This will further be executed through First Bank’s FirstGem 9% Loan Scheme created for female-owned MSMEs and the SMEConnect Initiative.

The Business Shower by the ELOY Awards Foundation was held in five states: Lagos, Delta, Anambra, Kano and Osun States from July 1st 2023 to July 15th.

 According to the Founder of the ELOY Awards Foundation, Tewa Onasanya, the ELOY Business Shower was held to support business owners to build sustainable businesses. “This year at the second edition of the programme, we hosted 1,087 women across the five states visited in Nigeria. It was an avenue for these women to gain access to entrepreneurial training from experienced businessmen and women, who armed them with tools and information to help them grow their businesses successfully”, Onasanya said, adding that over 2,300 women who registered for the programme will also be invited to join the ELOY Foundation Network, a network that will continue to give them access to resources to help their businesses grow.

Expressing her delight at the recently concluded ELOY Foundation Business Shower, Folake Ani-Mumuney, FirstBank’s Group Head, Marketing & Corporate Communications, said, “We commend Eloy Foundation Awards for convening the second edition of its Eloy Business Shower which has impacted over 1000 female business entrepreneurs across the country.”

“Female business owners that participated at the event in the 5 cities – Lagos, Delta, Anambra, Kano and Osun States – are encouraged to take advantage of the teachings from the facilitators as these are essential to boosting their contribution to the economic activities in their host state, geo-political zones and the nation at large, whilst sustaining their businesses,” she concluded.

Following the huge success of the event, Phase two of the event will begin soon, where ELOY Awards Foundation will enrol 50 women who are small business owners in the three-month ELOY Foundation Sustainable Empowerment Program (SEP), these small business owners will be mentored for three months and they will have access to entrepreneurial training every month, mentorship, access to information on affordable finance and 10 of these women will be considered for a grant to assist them in their businesses.