Union Bank, Mamamoni establish innovation hub for low-income women

As part of its commitment to boost women empowerment, talent development, and financial inclusion, Union Bank Plc recently partnered with Mamamoni Empowerment Foundation to set up an innovation hub for lowincome women and girls from urban slum communities.

The hub, which is located in Amuwo- Odofin area of Lagos State, was

formally opened on the 21st of May, 2019.

The vocational training programme has been established to enable girls and women to build sustainable means of living.

It is expected that each year, over 400 underprivileged beneficiaries will receive training in vocational skills such as hairdressing, makeup, fashion designing, mobile farming and furniture making. Other courses to be offered at the hub include financial literacy, coding and personal branding.

Speaking at the launch of the innovation centre, Ogochukwu Ekezie-ekaidem, head of corporate communications and marketing at Union Bank, applauded the efforts of the MamaMoni team in improving the outcome of women in underserved communities through micro loans and empowerment schemes.

“Union Bank is proud to have been a principal partner of the Mamamoni foundation over the years. We identified this initiative as one that will help amplify our efforts to support women and drive financial inclusion. It is our hope that this innovation centre will go a long way in improving the lives of women from low-income communities and their families as they strive for a better future,” Ekezie-ekaidem said.

In 2016, Nkem Okocha, founder of the Mamamoni foundation emerged a winner in the leap Africa social innovators programme (sip) sponsored by Union Bank, receiving a grant of N1million to expand the Mamamoni operations.

Since then, the foundation has impacted over 6,000 women by providing them with micro loans and basic vocational and financial literacy skills.

Union Bank is committed to enabling the success of the average Nigerian and continues to champion the cause for the women empowerment, the bank stated.

Earlier this year, the bank launched its women’s proposition, tagged Alpher, a platform to empower women across all segments of the Nigerian society through capacity building opportunities, networking platforms, scholarships and tailored financial services.