SunTrust Bank launches initiative for female fashion entrepreneurs to access N5m facility

SunTrust Bank has launched “women in fashion”, an initiative which allows female entrepreneurs in the fashion industry to access up to N5 million loan.

The bank flagged off the initiative at its head office in Victoria Island, Lagos state, on Wednesday.

This development comes less than two months after the bank launched “women on wheels”, an initiative which empowered several female drivers with cars to boost their involvement in the ride-hailing industry.

For the “women in fashion” initiative, female entrepreneurs can access between N500,000 and N5 million facility to boost their businesses.

Raliat Oyetunde, the bank’s head of SME and regional head in Lagos and Western Nigeria, said 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.

Addressing journalists at the event, Halima Buba, SunTrust managing director, said 100 beneficiaries will be selected in Lagos, while another 100 will be selected in Abuja.

Buba said the loan has an interest rate of about 16 percent with a repayment period of 12 months.

“We see it as an avenue to encourage our women who are into fashion to produce not only for the Nigerian market, but also to produce for export,” she said.

“For a start, we are launching this initiative in Lagos, but we are starting with 100 women in Lagos and 100 women in Abuja. Women all over Nigeria can also key into the programme.

“Our ‘women on wheels’ programme was a huge success and because of the that, we are having the ‘women in fashion’, after which we are also looking at women in agricultural sector. We have all these programmes lined up for women.

“There is a saying that if you empower a woman, you have empowered a nation. And if you look at the management of SunTrust Bank, 80 percent are women. We encourage everybody, but we like to encourage women more.”

Speaking with TheCable, Olaide Ayodeji, creative director at House of Bolt, a fashion company which benefited from the initiative, said the programme will allow her export African designs to other countries.

“As a fashion designer, we have so many things that we have to use funds for in our business. So, this fund is a great one and it is an initiative worth participating in. We are planning on exporting our Adire fabric to other countries,” she said.

Salihat Rahman, founder and chief executive officer of AbayaLagos, a modest wear luxury brand, also told TheCable that the loan facility will help in scaling her business towards greater expansion.

“COVID-19 has created a big dent on small business in Nigeria and all over the world. We are actually quite lucky that we have been able to withstand the effects of COVID-19 over the last year,” she said.

“Things took a downturn but we are hopeful that SunTrust, having come in the right time, will help us grow our feet to develop stronger legs. This will serve as a springboard for us to for the things we want to do.”