SunTrust Bank Empowers Female Fashion Entrepreneurs To Access N5M Facility

SunTrust Bank Nigeria Limited has launched a new initiative tagged “women in fashion (WIF)”, aimed at empowering female entrepreneurs in the fashion industry to access up to N5 million loans.

The launch which was done at its head office in Victoria Island, Lagos state, on Wednesday is coming on the heels of its recent launch of the Women on Wheels product, which has so far been a huge success. Noteworthy, the Woman on Wheels is an initiative that empowered several female drivers with cars to boost their involvement in the ride-hailing industry

According to the bank, it is launching the first phase of WIF with 100 women and the sum of N500m.

“SunTrust Bank Nigeria is launching this phase with 100 women and the sum of N500m.WIF is for those in ready to wear fashion business only, it is also to encourage export of our local fabrics and give our fashion designers opportunity to play in the global space while earning in forex.”

Raliat Oyetunde, the bank’s head of SME and regional head in Lagos and Western Nigeria, emphasized that one of the criteria for selecting successful beneficiaries is the scalable nature of the business.

“The focus is for beneficiaries to export their products and bring in foreign exchange,” she said.

The bank stated further that “To create a memorable way to spread the brand’s messages and stand out from the other competitors, SunTrust Bank introduced SME Flash Loans (Women on Fashion) to support women in business who make ready to wear clothes and interested in expanding their existing fashion businesses.

“For you to be eligible to access this loan facility, you must be a woman, you must have been in business for 12months, you must have opened an account with SunTrust Bank and operated for 3months and provide guarantor of level 12 officer in government or Assistant Manager in Financial Institution.

“Women can access between N500, 000 to N5, 000, 00 (five hundred thousand to five million naira).”

The bank added that the initiative is one of the ways it is contributing to the Micro, Small and Medium Enterprise (MSME) sector which is the mainstay of most developing economies and in Nigeria it contributes 48 percent of the nation’s GDP, accounting for 96 percent of businesses and 84 percent of employment in the last 5 years.

“In the today’s competitive market, catching the attention of your target audience is getting more challenging every day, and therefore engaging small businesses like the Fashion industry is paramount, especially, as the Government is trying to grow the SME sector with the ease of access to loans and financial advisory,” the bank revealed.

Sun Trust Bank launched to the General Public on August 15, 2016. Inspired by the future, it is a privately held Commercial Bank licensed by the Central Bank of Nigeria under the BOFIA.

The Bank focuses its lending activities on SME Finance, Retail/Consumer Banking, and Medium to large Corporate Finance and explores other specialized Development/Infrastructure financing activities.