Unity Bank Launches Yanga Account in Ibadan to Promote Over 5 million Women MSMEs in South W.

Wednesday,December 01, 2020 / 08:30AM / Unity Bank/Header Image Credit: Unity Bank

Nigerian Retail Lender, Unity BankPlc is set to engage no fewer than 5 million Micro, Small and MediumEnterprises (MSMEs) being operated by women in the South West region, even asSola Sobowale, the Brand Ambassador, asserts that no women will be left behindas the Bank launches Yanga Account in Ibadan.

Unity Bank officially launched theYanga Account in Abuja recently where the veteran Nollywood actress wasunveiled to the target market as Brand Ambassador to specifically promote womenMSMEs and create a unique proposition for Yanga Account and the Brand in themarket.

Yanga Account is a complete suite ofservices designed to promote financial inclusion among women throughstress-free savings and investment, access to the services of dedicated SalesAgents, Agency Banking services close to the location of their businesses, specialbusiness seminar and training on how to grow business, access to microloans,customized debit cards and other bundled e-banking products.

At the official unveiling of theYanga Account for the South West region held in Ibadan on Tuesday, the Bank pledgedits unwavering commitment to empowering women in order to enable them toovercome every obstacle of accessing quality Banking services needed to assistthe growth of their businesses.

As part of the efforts to connectdirectly with the target market, the star actress who is now known as 'MamaYanga' undertook a market tour to interact with the women and gain first-handknowledge of how the product is being received in the market.

Speaking at the event in Ibadan onTuesday, the Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer of Unity Bank Plc, Mrs.Tomi Somefun stated the "Yanga Account heralds a new dawn for my fellow womenoperating businesses in South West Nigeria," noting that "the Yanga account isopen to all market women in farming, fashion design, tailoring, frozen food,pastry and baking, cosmetics, jewellery designs and making, skincare, eateriesand restaurants, etc. whether living in the communities or cities".

She reiterated that "the YangaAccount is conceived and designed for the financial literacy and empowerment ofNigerian women. It is about making sure that our women who make up 55% of thefinancially excluded Nigerians have access to basic and life-changing financialservices".

Also speaking, the Bankâ€™s new brandambassador, King of Boys star, Sola Sobowale invited all Nigerian women whooperate businesses in the South West to embrace the incredible opportunitiesoffered by the Yanga account to grow their businesses.

She said: "This is the first timethat a Bank will specifically design a product to cater to women and I amexcited about the inherent benefits of this account and the endlesspossibilities that it brings to my fellow women. I invite all my fellow womenin South-West Nigeria to sign up for the Yanga Account and watch their levelschange."

On his part, Group Head, Retail, SMEBanking and E-Business, Unity Bank Plc, Mr. Funwa Akinmade said: "Female-ledMSMEs in South West Nigeria continue to play pivotal roles in the contributionof the MSMEs to the economy of Nigeria and that has informed this specialactivation of Yanga account in Ibadan today.

"The Yanga account is awell-packaged banking product that combines several services that most smallbusinesses owned by women will need to become profitable. We are optimisticthat Ibadan women and all others across South West Nigeria will embracethe Yanga Account and leverage its full benefits to grow theirbusinesses."

With the launch of the Yangaaccount, Unity Bank said it underscores its retail strategy which continuallyaligns with the vision of the Central Bank of Nigerian and the financialservices ecosystem to provide needed support for Nigerian women by enhancingaccess to wealth-creating opportunities in the financial services sector.

Industry watchers believe the retailproduct has the potential to aggressively deepen financial inclusion, whichrecent research by Enhancing Financial Innovation & Access (EFInA) hasshown, "can benefit individuals, families, and businesses, supporting keyoutcomes such as GDP growth".