IWD 2021: Wema Bank launches gender loan offer

Victoria Ogunrinde

Wema Bank Plc disclosed that it has launched a special gender discount loan offering to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day.

This was contained in a statement on Wednesday title ‘IWD 2021: Wema Bank celebrates women, launches special gender loan offerings’ that this was part of its commitment to supporting women.

According to the statement, the Divisional Head, Retail Business, Wema Bank, Dotun Ifebogun launched the gender loan offering at a webinar themed ‘Challenge today for an equal tomorrow’ which was organised to mark the IWD’.

Highlighting the offer’s significance, Ifebogun said it was more than a loan, as it also involved in-depth training.

Ifebogun said, “With this package, women can now access business loans at a single-digit interest rate. They have insurance cover for the business and themselves.

“A particular business owner will also have the opportunity of five days of business training at Wema Bank SME Business Training School.”

He said Wema Bank would continue to support women to confront challenges and promote gender inclusion through thoughtful initiatives such as the new loan package, health schemes, business advisory, financial education, among others.

He said, “This year, we have challenged the lack of access to finances for women, with an emphasis on cheaper loan and financial literacy for women through focused training.

“With this offer, we are going beyond just giving funds and raising finance; we extended it to training and expanding the knowledge base of these women to be sure that the people we give this loan can build on it and grow.”

The statement said the Executive Director, Business Support, Wema Bank, Folake Sanu, opened the webinar that addressed women’s challenging societal norms to reach their potential in entrepreneurship and the workplace, while the Team Lead, Business Process Re-Engineering, Wema Bank, Chika Adun moderated the webinar.