Wema Bank, Nigeria’s oldest indigenous bank, most innovative and pioneer of Africa’s first fully digital bank, ALAT, has disbursed business grants totalling N3,000,000, to the top three Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) who emerged winners in a business pitch competition at the Lagos Leather Fair 2025, sponsored by Wema Bank in Lagos, at the just concluded fair.
The top three winners of the business grants include EwaOluwa Morenikeji of House of Ewa Limited, Joy Fache James of Paciencia, and Fatima Yusuf of House of Zibima; all of whom won N1,000,000 each, courtesy of Wema Bank.
This thoughtful gesture capped off Wema Bank’s celebration of World MSME Day, reinforcing the Bank’s position as the financial institution that is committed to supporting Nigerian MSMEs and empowering them with the resources, tools and support they need to thrive, scale and remain sustainably profitable.
Receiving the grants, the businesses expressed profound gratitude to Wema Bank for their unwavering support and intentional approach to accelerating Nigerian businesses towards success.
Receiving her cheque, one of the winners, EwaOluwa Morenikeji, Founder and CEO of a modern bag making brand, House of Ewa Limited, shared some insight into the specific aspects of her business where she would be channeling the N1,000,000 grant to, appreciating Wema Bank for supporting the growth of her business.
According to her: “I’m deeply grateful for this opportunity to put my business out there and get the support I need to scale. This is definitely going to impact my business. I intend to use this money to expand my business, get better machinery and ensure that our output continues to get better and better. This will help my business growth and I thank Wema Bank for thinking of small businesses like mine and supporting us.”
Underscoring the need for concerted efforts in accelerating the growth of Nigeria’s MSME sector, Moruf Oseni, Wema Bank’s MD/CEO, firmly reiterated the Bank’s commitment to championing accelerated growth in Nigeria’s MSME sector towards improving the nation’s macroeconomic conditions.
According to him: “MSMEs present a two-fold opportunity for us at Wema Bank. With MSMEs constituting the bulk of the economy, empowering MSMEs not only translates to stimulating Nigeria’s economy, but even more importantly, it means extending the reach of our impact to the grassroots and providing support for the people to thrive both personally and professionally. For 80 years, we have remained committed on this lifelong mission of empowering lives and businesses, and relenting will never be an option for us. We will continue to meet MSMEs at their points of need, create tailored opportunities for them to thrive and remain innovative in shaping the future of Africa’s MSME sector, journeying with businesses, all the way.”
The Lagos Leather Fair, regarded as the biggest leather fair in West Africa, is an annual showcase of Africa’s Leather Industry.
Convening leather enthusiasts, manufacturers, suppliers, designers and other key players in the leather space from across the globe, the Lagos Leather Fair celebrates African culture, creativity and craftsmanship, expressed in style.
Resolute in its commitment to empowering businesses and supporting MSMEs, Wema Bank sponsored the Lagos Leather Fair for the second time in a row, contributing to the exceptional quality of the event through its exclusive banking proposition for the top 1%, Prestige by Wema, and going a step further to provide financial support in form of grants to promising indigenous businesses at the fair.
Wema Bank, an indigenous business itself, was established in 1945 with the goal of providing financial services for indigenous Nigerians and empowering lives and businesses.
80 years later, Wema Bank has earned itself the title of Nigeria’s SME Bank, disbursing over N300 billion in business loans and grants, empowering 800,000 SMEs, creating best-in-class SME toolkits for local and international payments, and facilitating market access to over 250,000 real buyers in 14 states across the six geopolitical zones in Nigeria, in West Africa, as well as international markets; all within the last five years.
