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NEXIM shifts focus to women, youths, SMEs with N10bn Seed Fund

The Nigerian Export- Import Bank (NEXIM) has moved to support women and youth exporters with a seed fund of N10 billion under a new programme coined Women and Youth Export Facility (WAYEF). The bank also announced a partnership with Afreximbank with which $50 million Project Preparation Fund (PPF) would be mobilised for Nigeria. The objective of the PPF is to provide technical assistance to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), including those promoted by women and youths towards presenting bankable proposals thereby improving their access to funds.

The managing director/ chief executive officer, NEXIM Bank, Abubakar Abba Bello made the revelations in Abuja on Tuesday at the launch of Women and Youth Export Facility (WAYEF). In an address during the programme, Bello said the launch of the facility was in commemoration of the 2021 “International Women’s Day” celebrated globally on March 8, adding that WAYEF would increase women and youth participation in the global export market.

The event also featured a capacity building session on the theme “Unlocking Export Market Opportunities for Women & Youth,” where women and youth that were engaged in profitable export businesses were invited to share their experiences as a source of inspiration and encouragement to others.

Bello explained that the bank has provided enormous support for many export-oriented industries that are high employers of women and youth such as cashew, Shea, hibiscus and ginger where a lot of women were involved in cleaning and packaging of the products for export. He said WAYEF would provide more financial support for women and youth owned businesses operating in the various aspects of the export value chain under a more dedicated and focused arrangement. According to him “WAYEF, however, seeks to do more by supporting women/youth owned businesses operating in the various aspects of the export value chain under a more dedicated and focused arrangement.”

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