Access Bank, Nigeria’s largest bank by customer base with a global footprint beyond Africa has launched a “YouThrive” initiative which targets to empower 700,000 MSMEs in the country through a N50bn loan.
Victor Etuokwu, Deputy Managing Director, Access Bank, made this disclosure through a statement.
Etuokwu also revealed that the MSMEs that would benefit from the programme would undergo training to enable them to optimally make use of the loan.
In his words, “Access Bank is set to financially empower over 700,000 youth MSMEs and to achieve this, we have set aside N50bn to lend to them at a huge, discounted interest rate.
“To be eligible to access this loan, all applicants must be between the ages of 21 and 40 years.
“The Youthrive’ is a transformative initiative designed by Access Bank to empower, uplift, and accelerate the next generation of MSMEs. In the next four years, we will empower 4 million youth, one million per year. It would not just be about lending, we are building various capacity-building activities for them, and the curriculum will be centred around Technology, Creatives, Business Management and Skill acquisition.”
Reiterating Victor’s comments at the Inaugural Job Creation and MSME Quarterly Communications Forum, hosted by the Senior Special Assistant to the president on job creation and MSME held recently in Abuja, Chioma Ogwo, Head, Emerging Businesses, Access Bank said, “In four years, we hope to empower four million people, or one million each year. We have a business exchange programme for the beneficiaries that would enable the SMEs to go and exchange ideas with their counterparts in other countries. Every year, 700,000 would be given access to financing, and 300,000 would be trained. After that, we will take the best advice from the best and return to Nigeria to implement it.”
Speaking on this initiative, Temitola Adekunle Johnson, Senior Special Assistant to the president on job creation and MSMEs said that the initiative by Access Bank will help address the issue of access to affordable loans by small businesses.