FundQuest Financial Services Limited has hosted FundHER, which empowered about 100 women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) with access to funding and business insights to fuel economic growth.
FundHER by FundQuest Conference is an initiative by the firm to celebrate this year’s International Women’s Month with a renewed commitment to economic empowerment.
“Women entrepreneurs have consistently demonstrated resilience, innovation, and leadership, and FundQuest is fully committed to being their financial partner of choice,” Abiodun Akinjayeju, managing director/CEO of FundQuest said at the event, Wednesday.
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“If you educate a woman, you educate a nation; if you fund a woman’s business, you are funding the economy,” he said.
The firm said in a statement that the launch of FundHER by FundQuest is not just a moment, it is a movement. “FundQuest is set to expand this initiative, ensuring that more women entrepreneurs gain access to essential business education, mentorship, and capital.
“With FundHER, FundQuest is reaffirming its role as a catalyst for change, fostering an inclusive financial ecosystem where women-led businesses are not just supported but celebrated. And FundHER is just the beginning,” it said.
The firm further stated that FundHER by FundQuest’s is an initiative to drive economic growth through an initiative strategically designed to bridge the gender financing gap, dismantle structural barriers, and unlock the full economic potential of women-led enterprises.
This initiative brought together over 100 women-led Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs), providing them with access to funding, business insights, and networking opportunities.
Jennifer Seidu, principal consultant at JV Management Consulting Limited, while delivering the first keynote address, underscored the critical hurdles female entrepreneurs face which include constrained access to funding, market expansion limitations, regulatory roadblocks, and operational inefficiencies.
She lauded FundQuest’s decisive intervention through FundHER, recognising the initiative as a timely and much-needed response to the financial inequities that women-led businesses encounter.
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Joan Ediagbonya, group head, brand communication and customer experience at FundQuest, also reinforced these concerns with data, while highlighting that while women own 45 percent of SMEs in Nigeria, only 10 percent have access to formal funding.
“No country can ever truly flourish if it stifles the potential of its women and deprives itself of the contributions of half of its citizens,” Ediagbonya said, quoting Michelle Obama, former first lady of the United States.
Kehinde Olomojobi, treasurer at Union Bank, stated the importance of financial discipline, urging entrepreneurs to separate personal and business finances, implement structured salaries, and embrace reinvestment strategies.
She also highlighted the transformative power of strategic partnerships, networking, and market specialisation.
FundQuest, through FundHER, is geared towards ensuring that women entrepreneurs receive the recognition, capital, and support they need to drive sustainable business success.
