Wema Signs $50m Credit Facility With ECOWAS Bank To Boost SMEs

Nigeria’s foremost financial institution and leading innovator, Wema Bank, has signed a credit facility of $50,000,000 with the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development (EBID).

The fund is reserved specifically to support and promote empowerment initiatives for Wema Bank’s diverse customers. The event was held on Monday, November 20, 2023, in Lome, Togo.

The $50,000,000 Credit Facility assigned to Wema Bank aligns with EBID’s strategy of impacting SMEs across the sub-region via partnerships with banks and reputable financial institutions that have a significant reach within the subregion.

With this facility, Wema Bank will now extend its already functional loan disbursement capacity to positively impact more Nigerians and business owners across the country, driving the shared vision of empowerment.

Wema Bank managing Director/CEO, Moruf Oseni, disclosed that Wema Bank’s unrelenting quest to drive impact and its mission of empowering lives through innovation, informed the partnership with EBID.

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According to him, “Banking without impact or value is nothing, which is why we continue to find new ways to positively impact the lives of our customers and our society. Our mission is clear—to empower lives through innovation—and over the years, we have developed innovative ways to achieve it. With each solution, partnership, and initiative, we have evolved into a multifarious support system and enabler across different areas of the national ecosystem and through this partnership, more lives and businesses will be impacted nationwide.”

Shedding more light on the allocation strategy for the facility, Oseni added, “This credit facility is targeted for impact across two major areas—women and agriculture. Beyond creating women-specific solutions, we are critically acclaimed for supporting women and female businesses nationwide and now, we can take our impact to greater heights. 

It is a personal philosophy of mine that any society that fails to empower women is flying on one wing, so we will not leave anyone behind on this journey of positive impact. Food is another area that can make or break an economy; a country where the majority can feed comfortably has solved a chunk of its problems. With this facility, we will intensify our efforts and multiply our impact across these two sectors towards the creation of a better life for all.”

Describing the partnership as long-expected, President and chairman of the Board of Directors at ECOWAS Bank, George Agyemkum Donkor, emphasised the importance of women empowerment and the need to continue providing actors in the agricultural sector with resources to enhance produce, add value to the ecosystem and increase trade returns for socio-economic growth and development.

Acknowledging Wema Bank’s significant role in driving the Nigerian economy, he further highlighted the impact of the credit facility on driving the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

“It also aligns with SDGs 5 and 2. SDG 2 talks about the fact that we should ensure food security in the subregions and of course the entire world, and SDG 5 talks about gender equality,” he added.

Allocated to support the Agro Industry and empower women in the SME industry, this credit facility agreement succinctly and perfectly supports, promotes, and enables the achievement of these SDGs.

Wema Bank has sustained a reputable history of empowering and supporting its customers financially, digitally, and in every other significant way. Through this new partnership, EBID will help strengthen Wema Bank’s capacity to finance loans for SMEs, youth, students, corporates, and every other segment of its customers, beyond its already extensive range of impactful solutions.

This groundbreaking partnership is unarguably a step in the right direction towards the continued achievement of Wema Bank’s mission of empowering lives through innovation.

LEADERSHIP reports that the ECOWAS Bank for Investment and Development is a leading regional investment and development bank that finances credible developmental projects and programmes across a diverse range of areas. The financial institution is established by the 15 member-states of the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), including Nigeria.