Following the recent launch of the Ogun State jobs portal and the desire of the State Government to partner with the Public Private Sector to make life meaningful for its teeming unemployed youths, the nation’s leading financial institution Access Bank Plc has requested to work with the State Government.
According to a statement signed by the Chief Press Secretary to the Ogun state governor, Mr. Kunle Somorin, the initiative is aimed at creating opportunities, upskill and expand the job space for the teeming young men and women and those with special talents from the state.
The statement also added
that the partnership proposition would involve vocational training programmes, empowerment schemes and special financial products that will facilitate access to finance for young graduates and youths and women.
Furthermore, the proposition would provide direct employment opportunities to qualifying young graduates, avail them with financial literacy and youth empowerment programmes, give them access to training and capacity building activities, open them up to entrepreneurs business opportunities and give them access to borrowing for personal and business solutions.
Somorin, through the statement, also disclosed that there would be an empowerment programme for women, ‘ The ” W” Initiative’ with financial and lifestyle solutions through the various stages of their lives.
The partnership proposition for women which is a leading women’s programme by a financial institution in the country will also avail the women access to finance, market, capacity building and networking programme, amongst other benefits.
The partnership will provide free capacity building and networking programmes, create discounted business development trainings for female Small and Medium Enterprise(SME) owners at the ‘W’ academy in conjunction with external stakeholders like the international finance Corporation (IFC), Enterprise Development Center and Pan African University,while ‘womenpreneur’ ,a pitch-a-ton growth initiative will avail female entrepreneurs an opportunity to pitch their business for an opportunity to win a financial grant of up to five million Naira, through a mini MBA from the International Finance Corporation(IFC).
The initiative from the bank will also help women have access to the “W Power Loan”, a loan that is a discounted financing product for women in business with flexible lending options that woukd allow women borrow up to N20 million without a physical collateral at 15 percent rate per annum. Businesses can as well access up to N100 million, while a social impact product, Maternal Health Service Support(MHSS) designed to help women and families overcome barriers to good health and well being will be available.
Somorin also said that the Maternal Health Service Support(MHSS) provides financing for medical procedures including fertility treatments(IVF), Natal Care(Child Delivery), Bariatric(Weight Control) treatments, dental care, orthopedic treatments and selected specialized surgeries in Nigeria and abroad, adding that women can also have access to short term digital payday loans without any form of collateral.
The statement also said that Entrepreneurs and MSME businesses will have access to business propositions through the operation of a Diamond Business Advantage account that would offer financial empowerment through access to finance with full bouquet of borrowing solutions for business growth across sectors which will include agriculture, health, hospitality, education, real sector and trading with access to financial grant of up to N5 million, free business partnership for business advisory, access to over 50 business management courses on the SME zone, digital solutions for payments and collections and access to short term digital payday loans without any form of collateral.
Furthermore, the proposition noted that training and development will avail entrepreneurs access to continuous free training and qualitative capacity building programme, exposure to business networking groups, exposure and access to trade markets and business management trainings, seminars and conferences, while empowerment programmes like free participation in financial incentives savings schemes and an opportunity for a lifetime savings and loyalty schemes and incentives will be available to the entrepreneurs.