Grand Africa Initiative-GAIN and the Development Bank of Nigeria Plc (DBN) have announced a collaboration to train two hundred young Nigerian Women in an entrepreneurship course titled “GAIN Entrepreneurship Masterclass for Women (Nigeria)”, starting in July 2022.

The course is designed to equip young women entrepreneurs from across the country with entrepreneurial knowledge and skills to build and scale their businesses. The training will cover areas critical to the success of MSMEs including ideation, legal services, branding, marketing, communication, accounting, modeling, staffing, structure, etc.

Describing the significance of the Women Entrepreneurship Masterclass, The Managing Director, DBN, Dr. Tony Okpanachi said “We are excited about this initiative which speaks directly to our mandate of building the capacity of MSMEs. The GAIN initiative has become imperative to reach as many women as possible by leveraging technology and promoting gender equality. At the end of this exercise, we hope to see more empowered women creating opportunities towards achieving sustainable social-economic development.”  

On her part, the Executive Director of GAIN, Ms. Chinwe Okoli, stated that “It has become imperative to specifically support women to embrace entrepreneurship. This training will equip them with the skills to succeed at building businesses that will empower them economically, create employment, and contribute to the economic development of Nigeria”.

According to Ms. Okoli, “this program is in line with one of the focus areas of Grand Africa Initiative-GAIN which is Women Empowerment. She said the program is targeted at women from across Nigeria who will benefit from a faculty of experts in various aspects of the business. Eligible for the program are women who have a business or a business idea, are between 22 to 45 years of age, and have a demonstrable interest in business, access to the internet, internet-enabled device, and electricity to participate in the program. GAIN Entrepreneurship Masterclass for Women (Nigeria)' is scheduled to open a call for application on July 6, 2022. The six-week program will include training and mentorship sessions which will be held virtually”. 

About the Development Bank of Nigeria Plc.

Development Bank of Nigeria Plc is a development finance institution, established by the federal government in collaboration with global development partners to address the major financing challenges facing Micro, Small, and Medium Scale Enterprises (MSMEs) in Nigeria. DBN carries out this function through its Participating Financial Institutions (PFIs) consisting of Commercial Banks, Microfinance Banks, and other financial institutions by providing them with funding facilities designed to meet the needs of the MSMEs.