Unity Bank Plc has said it launched its latest retail product, Yanga, as part of measures to boost financial inclusion amongst women as well as empowering the underbanked women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.
Divisional head, Retail, SME Banking and E-Business, Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Olufunwa Akinmade, speaking during a chat with the media, cited a recent EFInA report, saying, “there are 51 million Nigerian women above 18 years of age, with over 41 per cent of the unbanked. Out of these figures, it is estimated that there are 14-18 million female entrepreneurs – mainly in the micro SME category.”
The bank had launched the women-focused Yanga account in November 2021 to promote financial inclusion and cater to unbanked women entrepreneurs across Nigeria in the MSME space.
According to him, the new retail product is designed to deepen its beneficial impact on Micro Small and Medium Enterprises, MSMEs operated by women in the mass-market retail space.
“Recent research has shown that Nigeria has the highest number of women entrepreneurs in the world, with an estimated 40 million SMEs, of whom women constitute approximately 42 per cent.
women have proved beyond reasonable doubt that they have the capacity to create wealth and contribute productively to the economy.
“However, a lot more needs to be done and it starts with empowering them with the right tools to harness this entrepreneurship potential. Currently, they face many institutional and cultural hurdles while starting or running their businesses.
“For instance, a recent report shows that only 22 per cent of female entrepreneurs have access to finance against 34 per cent of males. This is part of why we have introduced Yanga to bridge this gap while also narrowing the population of underbanked women entrepreneurs,” he stated.
Akinmade further explained that the Unity Yanga product will play a critical role in boosting financial inclusion and narrowing the underbanked women population as the account comes with a unique product proposition that includes an easy to operate and free to open a Savings account, with no identification required, customized debit card, dedicated sales officers.
