Access Bank Plc has partnered with She Leads Africa to conclude the first phase of #SheMeansBusiness, a Facebook programme aimed at empowering female run small and medium enterprises, SMEs, on how to leverage digital platforms to drive growth in their businesses.
The training, aimed at scaling up the skills of small business owners to take advantage of the captive market on social media platforms in Nigeria and beyond, kicked off in the month of June and has held in Abuja, Lagos, Enugu and Ibadan with over 500 female business owners in attendance. Addressing newsmen in Abuja at the commencement of the training series, Executive Director, Retail Banking, Access Bank Plc, Victor Etuokwu, said, “As one of the fastest growing retail banks in the country, Access Bank is always at the forefront of leveraging technology to drive emerging businesses.
“The idea behind this partnership and empowerment programme is to give our SME customers an opportunity to expand their access to market and increase their visibility to potential customers.
There are over two billion people on Facebook globally and over 65 billion WhatsApp messages exchanged globally on a daily basis. With the right knowledge, our customers can showcase their products to large audiences as well as get leads that will take their businesses forward.” She Leads Africa’s Digital Marketing Trainer, Adeyemi Adedayo, said the programme is specifically designed for women to upscale and boost their businesses, and focuses on how to use Facebook’s family apps, including Messenger, WhatsApp and Instagram. Adedayo stressed that feedback from the business owners engaged so far has been tremendous. “We have since recorded remarkable growth in engaging these women and the results derived from these engagements have been very remarkable. The women have responded well so far, and it is encouraging for the trainers” he said. The second phase of the Access Bank, Facebook and She Leads Africa training will continue in Abeokuta on Wednesday, July 17, Jos, July 23, and Benin, July 26.