Season 8 programme to train female entrepreneurs with IFC-backed mini-MBA, expand access to finance and mentorship
Access Corporation Plc has increased the major grant under its Womenpreneur Programme to N7 million as it launches the eighth edition of the initiative, in a move aimed at helping more women-owned businesses expand, become more resilient and contribute to economic growth.
The programme, implemented through Access Bank, is designed to go beyond conventional financing by combining business training, mentorship, networking and market access with financial support for female entrepreneurs.
Speaking at the Access Bank Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton Season 8 Media Roundtable in Lagos yesterday, the Head of Women Banking, Access Bank, Nene Kunle-Ogunlusi, said the latest edition would build on the achievements recorded since the programme began.
She disclosed that more than 1,141 women across 10 African countries had so far been trained under the initiative, while participants had received grants valued at more than $200,000.
According to her, the programme was established on the understanding that access to capital alone was insufficient to guarantee the survival and growth of small businesses.
“We are trying to go beyond just financing. When you hear that banks are supporting women, you think it is only financing, but there are a lot of capacity-building initiatives that go in,” she said.
Kunle-Ogunlusi explained that the increase in the major grant to N7 million was intended to give successful beneficiaries greater financial capacity to expand their businesses and take advantage of new opportunities.
She added that 19 other beneficiaries would also receive grants under the eighth edition of the programme.
The initiative, she said, was designed to tackle some of the factors responsible for the failure of small businesses, including limited business knowledge, inadequate capacity building, weak professional networks and insufficient mentorship.
Building businesses that can survive
Also speaking, the Group Head, Consumer Banking, Access Bank, Chizoba Iheme, said research conducted before the launch of the Womenpreneur Programme showed that a significant number of businesses struggled to survive beyond their first five years.
She said the findings influenced the bank's decision to focus on helping women entrepreneurs build businesses with stronger structures and the capacity to withstand challenges while scaling.
Iheme said the programme had already produced entrepreneurs who expanded their businesses within Nigeria and internationally, trained other women in their communities and received recognition through national awards.
She disclosed that one of the programme's beneficiaries had won a $100,000 prize, while two graduates had won the Nigerian MSME Awards in consecutive editions.
The achievements, she said, demonstrated the potential of targeted support to transform women-led enterprises beyond the period of initial training.
Rather than limiting beneficiaries to grants, the programme seeks to equip them with practical knowledge that can help them manage finances, improve operations, develop sustainable business models and identify opportunities for growth.
Who can apply
For the eighth edition, female business owners between the ages of 18 and 55 are eligible to apply, provided they own at least 50 per cent of their businesses.
Applicants must also have operated their businesses for a minimum of one year and maintain an Access Bank account.
The requirements are intended to ensure that the programme reaches women who have moved beyond the idea stage and are already operating businesses with potential for further development.
Programme Manager, Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton, Ifeoluwa Oyeyipo, said the eighth edition would place particular emphasis on businesses with clear potential to scale.
She said the programme would focus on ensuring that financial awards produce measurable improvements rather than merely providing short-term relief to beneficiaries.
Oyeyipo added that Access Bank's women-focused programmes were being implemented across its African markets, with individual countries given the flexibility to structure and launch programmes according to their local economic realities and language requirements.
She said the bank expected participants in the new edition to emerge with stronger business structures, improved entrepreneurial knowledge and enhanced capacity to expand their enterprises.
Oyeyipo urged eligible women entrepreneurs to take advantage of the opportunity, stressing that the broader objective was to help them establish businesses capable of surviving economic pressures, expanding operations and creating opportunities for others.
IFC partnership strengthens training
The Acting Group Head, Group Marketing and Retail Analytics, Access Bank, Oge Kasie-Nwachukwu, disclosed that the training component of the programme would be delivered in partnership with the International Finance Corporation (IFC).
She said the three-week training was scheduled to commence in November and would include a mini-MBA programme aimed at improving participants' business and management capabilities.
The partnership is expected to strengthen the technical and managerial aspects of the programme, giving participants exposure to structured business practices that can support long-term growth.
With the launch of Season 8, Access Bank is positioning the Womenpreneur Programme as more than a grant scheme, with the emphasis increasingly placed on building businesses that can survive, scale and create employment.
The expansion of the grant package, combined with training, mentorship and market-access opportunities, reflects the growing focus on women's entrepreneurship as a tool for financial inclusion and broader economic development.