ImpactHER has partnered So Fraîche Media and Société Générale to train female entrepreneurs through the bank’s innovation hub initiative.
ImpactHER, a non-profit organisation, has teamed up with So Fraîche Media and Société Générale, to train female entrepreneurs on how to build scalable businesses and access institutional investors. The partnership was announced at a recent women’s event on the theme ‘Gender equality today for a sustainable tomorrow’ held on the premises of Société Générale, which was oversubscribed.
ImpactHER decided to collaborate with SG Bank in order to help the women get the needed financial assistance from the bank as funding is a major challenge for most of these women entrepreneurs’ event is aimed at bringing women who are under the organisation.
The founder of ImpactHER, Efe Ukala, stated that she is highly encouraged by this partnership as it leverages the expertise of ImpactHER, SG Bank and So Fraîche Media to change the status quo of many Ghanaian women-led businesses. “This partnership would help provide financial and market access to Ghanaian formal and informal female-led businesses, thereby helping to increase the economic output and improving the standard of living of thousands of Ghanaian women”.
In her remarks, the Country Director for ImpactHER Ghana, Maame Konadu Mintah, said the organization which has its headquarters in New York has branches all over Africa and has the ultimate goal to engage, train and position women entrepreneurs.
ImpactHER has trained over 35,949 women in 53 African countries
“Every woman is within target group, both formal and informal. We want to encourage more women to be entrepreneurial and develop products that can enter the African market and also help them meet partners.”
She further added that her organisation creates the platform for these women to exhibit their products as well getting technical training to help them package their products in order to meet international standards.
Société Générale is expected to launch the SG Woman Solution for entrepreneurs and corporate women across the country through the Innovation hub initiative to cater to the start-up needs of young innovative women. The bank hopes that the SG Woman Solution will be every woman’s preferred go-to service now and in the future.
In his address, the Managing Director for Société Générale, Ouzzani Hakim, said the bank is intentional about ensuring that there is equal representation of gender in the various areas of the organization. Mr Hakim stated that currently, women constitute 44% of the company’s board and executive committee, a feat that they are very proud of.
“As part of the banks deliberate efforts to help the entrepreneurial journey of women, SG Ghana apart from the normal financial services it provides, such as loans, leasing, factoring amongst others, is developing a product specifically designed with the entrepreneurial woman in mind. Secondly, our SG Ghana Home of Business has been setup to assist women led businesses to be bankable and investor ready. Thirdly, the SG Ghana INNOV8 has also been tasked to find new and innovative ways to help with the adoption of technology in start-ups owned by women.”
According to the MD, “we want to see women grow and continue to be the beacon of hope that they are to their families and society, so SG Ghana is here to help that entrepreneurial woman succeed.”
The collaboration, spearheaded by the Managing Director of So Fraîche Media, Cyril Ofori Nelson, aims to synchronise ideas and resources to help female entrepreneurs source funding and grow their businesses to become pacesetters and market leaders in the country and beyond. Mr Ofori Nelson intimated: “We are committed to using our network to bring organisations together as a way of constantly adding value and opening new synergies for development and societal impact.”