FundHER, hosted by FundQuest Financial Services Limited, gave about 100 women-led SMEs access to capital and business knowledge to support economic expansion. The company is celebrating this year’s International Women’s Month with a renewed commitment to economic empowerment through the FundHER by FundQuest Conference.
“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. “If you educate a woman, you educate a nation; if you fund a woman’s business, you are funding the economy,” he added.
FundQuest stated 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, helping develop an inclusive financial ecosystem where women-led businesses are not just supported but celebrated. And FundHER is just the beginning,” it said.
The company added that FundHER by FundQuest is a program that aims to boost economic growth by removing structural impediments, bridging the gender finance gap, and maximising the financial potential of women-led businesses. More than 100 women-led SMEs were brought together by this project, which gave them access to capital, business intelligence, and networking possibilities.
In her first keynote address, Jennifer Seidu, principal consultant at JV Management Consulting Limited, emphasised the significant obstacles faced by female entrepreneurs, such as limited funding availability, restrictions on market expansion, regulatory barriers, and operational inefficiencies. As a timely and much-needed reaction to the financial disparities that women-led enterprises face, she praised FundQuest’s bold intervention through FundHER. In addition to providing data to support these worries, Joan Ediagbonya, group head of brand marketing and customer experience at FundQuest, pointed out that although women own 45% of SMEs in Nigeria, only 10% of them have access to official 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.
Union Bank treasurer Kehinde Olomojobi stressed the value of financial discipline, advising business owners to keep personal and company funds apart, use structured pay, and use reinvestment techniques. She also emphasised the transformational potential of networking, market specialisation, and strategic alliances. FundQuest’s FundHER initiative aims to give women entrepreneurs the assistance, funding, and visibility they require to propel long-term company success.
