Fidelity Bank Plc has extended N25 million in business grants and equipment to 300 women entrepreneurs in Akwa Ibom State through its Give Her Power Initiative.

The intervention was implemented in partnership with the Golden Initiative For All (GIFA) and the Office of the First Lady of Akwa Ibom State to help beneficiaries strengthen their businesses and improve their livelihoods.

Speaking at the presentation ceremony held at Government House, Uyo, the Executive Director of Fidelity Bank, Mrs Pamela Shodipo, said the initiative demonstrated the bank’s commitment to supporting women entrepreneurs and contributing to economic development in Akwa Ibom.

According to Shodipo, the intervention comprised N25 million in financial assistance under the GIFA Economic Women Empowerment Programme, alongside business-support items delivered through the Fidelity Food Bank Initiative.

As part of the support, Fidelity Bank provided 50 grinding machines, 50 sewing machines and 500 bags of foodstuffs for distribution to women across the state.

Shodipo said the intervention was founded on the bank’s confidence in the resilience, creativity and entrepreneurial capacity of women to establish businesses, support their families and contribute meaningfully to their communities.

She explained that the funds and equipment were intended to give beneficiaries practical resources and capital to establish new income-generating ventures or expand existing ones.

The Coordinator of the Office of the First Lady of Akwa Ibom State, Mrs Helen Eno Obareki, disclosed that 100 women involved in tailoring and fashion would receive sewing machines. Another 100 women would receive grinding machines to support agricultural processing and other commercial activities.

Obareki further stated that 20 beneficiaries would receive financial assistance alongside Point-of-Sale (POS) machines, while 80 others would receive cash grants.

With the latest intervention, she said the number of women reached through GIFA would rise to about 7,000.

The programme is aimed at promoting female entrepreneurship across Akwa Ibom’s 31 local government areas by providing practical assistance to women involved in trade, commerce and other small-scale businesses.

GIFA, Obareki said, has continued to take its interventions directly into communities through programmes spanning eight thematic areas. One of these is the “GIFA at Your Doorstep” initiative, which provides business equipment and financial assistance to small business owners at their homes and shops.

She advised beneficiaries to regard the equipment and grants as business capital rather than one-off gifts. She also urged them to put the financial management and business skills they had acquired into practice to grow their enterprises.

Shodipo similarly encouraged the beneficiaries to deploy the support toward building sustainable businesses and creating opportunities for other women as their enterprises expand.

She said Fidelity Bank’s intervention was part of its wider commitment to Akwa Ibom. She noted that the bank had recently commissioned a new branch along Grace Bill Road in Eket Local Government Area to broaden access to financial services in the state.

According to Shodipo, Fidelity Bank considers Akwa Ibom a market with entrepreneurs, farmers, traders, artisans and young people whose ideas and businesses have the potential to contribute to economic growth.

She pledged that the bank would maintain its partnership with the state and continue supporting interventions focused on sustainable businesses and inclusive economic development.

Obareki said the intervention was consistent with Akwa Ibom State’s wider economic development objectives, stressing the importance of women to the state’s economic growth.

She added that the latest assistance would provide beneficiaries with additional capital and tools to strengthen their enterprises and contribute to household incomes across the state.

Source: msmeafricaonline