E-Financial
How Sterling Bank Is Empowering 1m Women with ₦500Bn
Sterling Bank, through its women focused initiative, OneWoman, convened a powerful gathering of women entrepreneurs, development finance institutions, ecosystem leaders, and business stakeholders at the Funding Her Future Breakfast Dialogue in Lagos.
L-R: Akporee Idenedo, Divisional Head, Commercial Banking, Sterling Bank; Ezinne Nwokafor, Head, OneWoman Initiative, Sterling Bank; Thelma Luke Nwoye, Group Head, Business Finance, Sterling Bank; ‘Solape Akinpelu, CEO/Founder , HerVest; Edward Ogunmekan, Chief Growth Officer, Sterling Bank at the OneWoman Gender Lens Breakfast Dialogue held at The Wheatbaker Hotel, Ikoyi recently.
The session brought together voices from across sectors for a focused and necessary conversation on how to unlock more inclusive and effective financing pathways for women led businesses in Nigeria.
At its core, the dialogue was not just about access to capital. It was about building the right systems around women entrepreneurs. Conversations explored how financing, business readiness, ecosystem support, and institutional partnerships must come together to drive long term growth and resilience.
Speaking at the event, the Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer of Sterling Bank, Abubakar Suleiman, noted that the gathering was designed to move beyond intention and into action.
“Today is about going further. It is about turning shared belief into shared action,” he said.
In his welcome remarks, delivered on his behalf by the Chief Growth Officer, Edward Ogunmekan, Suleiman described the dialogue as a meeting point of finance, enterprise, inclusion, and sustainable economic growth.
“We are honoured to host such a distinguished gathering of partners, investors, women entrepreneurs, and business leaders, all brought together by one important question. How do we expand access to meaningful finance for women-led businesses in a way that is scalable, sustainable, and commercially sound?”
He explained that the conversation reflects a long- standing conviction at Sterling that real prosperity is built by backing people, ideas, and sectors with strong potential. This belief, he noted, is what gave rise to the OneWoman initiative.
According to him, OneWoman was created to support women through three key pillars which are capital, capacity, and community.
He added that while access to finance is critical, it is only one part of the equation.
“Women-led businesses need the right support systems, the right networks, and the right ecosystem to grow with confidence and scale with resilience,” he said.
The event also featured two panel sessions with representatives from funding institutions, women focused organisations, entrepreneurs, and ecosystem partners. These conversations provided practical insights into financing opportunities available to women, while also examining the broader support systems required for sustainable growth.
Also speaking at the event, Ezinne Nwokafor, Head of the OneWoman Initiative, highlighted the urgency of addressing the financing gap facing women in Nigeria.
She noted that a significant majority of Nigerian women remain excluded from formal credit, with only a small percentage able to access structured financing. Despite improvements in financial inclusion, women continue to face systemic barriers that limit their ability to secure funding.
Nwokafor pointed out that women account for a substantial share of micro, small, and medium enterprises and contribute meaningfully to the economy, yet face a financing gap estimated at 42 billion dollars (USD) annually according to the International Finance Corporation.
She also referenced data showing that more than half of women led businesses identify access to finance as a major constraint, while rejection rates for loan applications remain significantly higher for women than for men.
According to her, these challenges are often linked to structural issues such as gaps in asset ownership, social norms, and limited access to financial data and visibility.
Despite these barriers, she emphasised that the opportunity is significant.
“Sterling’s OneWoman initiative is positioned to bridge this gap by combining financial solutions, mentorship, capacity building, and community support for women across different stages of their journey,” she said.
She added that in 2025 alone, the initiative gave out N43.9 billion loans to 2,450 female entrepreneurs, trained 6,000 of them, served about 380,000 women across three sectors of career women, women in business and freshers and their vision 2030 is to give out N500 billion loans to one million women across their three sectors.
Also speaking, Akporee Idenedo, Divisional Head of Commercial Banking, reaffirmed the bank’s commitment to addressing the concerns raised during the dialogue. He stressed that building skills and strengthening capacity will remain essential to creating a sustainable ecosystem for women entrepreneurs.
The Funding Her Future Breakfast Dialogue forms part of Sterling Bank’s broader effort to deepen its support for women through targeted financing, enterprise development, and community driven growth.
Through OneWoman, the bank continues to build platforms and solutions that empower women to grow sustainable businesses, create jobs, and contribute more meaningfully to economic progress.
As conversations around money become more complex in a fast-evolving digital world, the need to Building Financially Smart Future and equip young people with the right financial knowledge, has never been more urgent.
Polaris Bank
From spending habits to saving culture, digital transactions, and entrepreneurial thinking, financial literacy is increasingly becoming a life skill, not just a nice-to-have.
It is against this backdrop that Polaris Bank is participating in this year’s Global Money Week (GMW), a global financial awareness campaign which kicked off from Tuesday, April 7 through Thursday, April 30, 2026.
Global Money Week is an annual initiative led by Child and Youth Finance International in collaboration with key stakeholders, including financial service providers and government institutions, to inspire children and young people to learn about money management, livelihoods, and entrepreneurship.
During the 2025 edition Polaris Bank reached and impacted directly 3,372 students, across 35 secondary schools in 36 states across Nigeria.
With the 2026 theme, “Smart Money Talks,” this year’s campaign shines a spotlight on the importance of making informed financial decisions in an increasingly digital environment. It also reinforces the value of critical thinking, emotional intelligence, and sound financial judgement in helping young people navigate today’s financial realities.
For Polaris Bank, participation in Global Money Week goes beyond fulfilling a statutory obligation. It reflects the Bank’s broader commitment to advancing financial literacy, promoting inclusion, and empowering the next generation with practical knowledge that can shape better financial behaviour and long-term economic wellbeing.
In line with the directive of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) through the Financial Literacy Secretariat, Polaris Bank will conduct Financial Literacy Sessions in schools across states where it maintains branch presence. These sessions will provide students and young adults with useful insights into key areas such as; saving, budgeting, responsible use of financial products, digital financial services, and entrepreneurship.
The initiative also presents an important opportunity for the Bank to engage directly with young people at a formative stage in their lives, helping them build confidence in money matters and make more informed choices as they grow into financially active adults.
At a time when financial decisions are increasingly shaped by technology, peer influence, and instant access to digital tools, Polaris Bank believes that early education is critical to helping young people distinguish between impulse and intention, trend and truth, convenience and responsibility.
By taking financial literacy conversations into schools, the Bank is not only supporting a national mandate but also contributing to the development of a generation that is better informed, more financially aware, and more capable of making smart choices for the future.
Polaris Bank remains committed to initiatives that create meaningful impact, strengthen communities, and empower individuals through knowledge-driven engagement.
Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) is implementing stricter Bank Verification Number (BVN) regulations, including limiting phone number changes to only once in a lifetime.
This will take effect from May 1.
Also, mobile apps will be restricted to one device, a 24-hour temporary watch-list for suspicious transactions will be enforced, and enrollment is restricted to individuals aged 18 and above.
Other key changes are:
One Device Policy: Mobile banking apps will be restricted to one device, with automatic logout when accessing another device.
Fraud Watchlist: BVNs linked to suspicious activity will be placed on a 24-hour, temporary, or permanent blacklist, temporarily freezing accounts.
Age Restriction: Enrollment for BVN is now restricted to individuals aged 18 and above.
Data Correction: Changes to BVN profile details (Name, DOB) are also heavily restricted, allowing only one-time corrections to data.
Paga Group has announced a major leadership restructuring, marking 17 years of operation and signalling a strategic shift toward deeper financial infrastructure development, emerging technologies, and expansion across Africa.
Tayo Oviosu, founder (front) and Ope Oyinloye, Group COO and CEO of Paga Nigeria
With the restructuring, Tayo Oviosu, founder, is now the Group CEO, while Ope Oyinloye has been appointed Group COO and CEO of Paga Nigeria, in an acting capacity, pending regulatory approval from the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN).
Oviosu will also serve as executive chairman of the Group Board and non-executive chairman of Paga Nigeria.
He will be leading Paga Labs, driving geographic expansion, and overseeing fundraising efforts.
The fintech company said the changes represent a transition from its foundational phase into a new growth chapter, known as ‘Act 2’, focused on connecting Africans to global financial systems, scaling innovation, and entering new markets.
To support this transition, the company announced key leadership changes. advertisement
Jay Alabraba, co-founder, has been appointed group director of Special Projects, where he will initially lead the company’s expansion into lending and support new market entry initiatives.
Speaking on the transition, Oviosu said the company’s mission remains unchanged but its approach continues to evolve.
“Act 1 proved that we could build a profitable, high-growth infrastructure business that the world’s leading companies trust. Act 2 is about taking that infrastructure to its full potential—connecting Africans to global financial rails, moving into new markets, and leading the next wave of financial technology,” he said.
Oyinloye added that his focus will be on sustaining operational excellence while scaling the company’s next phase of growth.
With the new structure in place, Paga is positioning itself to play a more significant role in shaping the future of financial services across Africa, particularly as digital payments, blockchain technologies, and AI-driven solutions gain traction across the continent.
Paga has since evolved into a full-stack financial services infrastructure provider. Its offerings now span enterprise solutions through Paga Engine, consumer services via the Paga app, and merchant tools under Doroki.
The company’s first phase delivered significant growth. Between 2021 and 2025, total transaction value processed increased 17-fold to $11 billion across 169 million transactions in 2025 alone, with more than $1.5 billion processed monthly.
Net revenues grew five times within the same period, underscoring the scalability of its model.
Paga also expanded its enterprise footprint, with over 265 clients which include global firms such as PayPal, Meta, Amazon, LemFi, Tencent, Pesa, and Verto building on its infrastructure.
The company was further recognised by the Financial Times and Statista as one of Africa’s fastest-growing companies for three consecutive years from 2023 to 2025.
As part of its new strategic direction, Paga outlined three priorities which are strengthening its financial infrastructure to connect local and global payment systems; advancing emerging technologies such as stablecoins, cryptocurrency, and artificial intelligence through its innovation arm, Paga Labs; and expanding into new African markets.
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