SMEDAN Set To Empower Women Entrepreneurs With Grants
The Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria has disbursed a grant of over N2.05m to five outstanding women entrepreneurs.
This was made at the first edition of its Speed Pitch Competition at the Eko Convention Center in Lagos.
According to a statement by the media aide to the director general, Peter Adeshina, the entrepreneurs received the funding for their businesses after pitching to a live crowd and a panel of judges comprising leading figures from the private and public sectors.
The grant includes N1.5m from SMEDAN and N550,000 donations from sponsors and individuals at the event.
Adeshina explained that the five shortlisted businesses for the first edition of the pitch competition made presentations to a crowd of over 1,800 women entrepreneurs, showcasing the unique attributes of their businesses and growth plans while making a case for why their businesses deserved the financial grants.
Following the feedback from the judges who graded the presentations based on key metrics involving storytelling and business potential, Kanyinsola Demola-Seriki of Shea Tribe was announced the winner of the competition, receiving the prize of one million naira for her business.
Following this, was Ogunkoya Goodness Adeola of Eco-Haven, an eco-friendly waste management company, in second position who won the sum of 500,000 naira. Ahmod Mistura of Jumish ICT Services came third, winning 250,000 naira in grants. The other two participants, Eccentric Menswear and Ayosifam Integrated Service, who received the sum of 150,000 naira each.
While speaking, the Director-General of SMEDAN, Charles Odii, who introduced the novel initiative at the agency, noted that it was an important opportunity to enhance the financial literacy of women-owned entrepreneurs and provide lessons on how to organize and market their businesses to attract funding.
Odii also expressed SMEDAN’s commitment to stage the competition in other states of the country to expose more deserving SMEs to funding and recognition.
According to him, “SMEDAN will organize masterclasses for SMEs on how to structure and pitch their businesses. This will involve some of the most successful founders and business managers.
“The goal is to ensure that SMEs gain access to knowledge and mentorship to maximize other resources and support we will be providing, including finance and tools.”
On their part, the participants said the event was very impactful and an indication of SMEDAN’s serious commitment to improving access to finance and encouraging entrepreneurs to not only build growth-focused businesses but also develop necessary skills such as storytelling and marketing to access opportunities.