WOMEN IN BUSINESS- THE SYTIAMO INTERVENTION
While funding might be easily accessible to well established or big businesses, those at the bottom of the pyramid do not have access to market funding. Apart from financing, financial literacy, and market support are some of the many challenges these grassroots businesses face, because how do they even manage business effectively if there is no knowledge?
Sytiamo Technology Limited is a micro lending firm which is positioned to empower women at the bottom of the pyramid with easy access to micro loans, financial literacy, and business support system for an improved social-economic status.
Sytiamo Micro lending was borne out of the need to support hard working women especially at the various local markets who have been financially excluded from the main Nigerian financial system due to their lack of credit history which had hampered many to access loans from the traditional commercials banks.
For many of these women in our local markets, trading is a generational line of business, as many has taken over these businesses either from their mother, grandmother, or even great grandmother. In some cases, all three generation are in the market still doing the same trade. However, there is no significant improvement in their lives because they have not been able to breakthrough in their business beyond the level of the previous generation.
Sytiamo researched carefully to understand why a committed and hardworking woman will be in a business for more than a decade and remain at the same level. It was surprising though to find out that these trading business in the local market was very profitable as it was most times the only source of income or livelihood for many of these women, but beyond that they were unable to scale up or expand the business beyond a certain point because they did not have the financial capacity, coupled with other environmental and economic factors.
Also, Sytiamo found out that these women where very credible in their local cycles but did not have any credit history in the financial mainstream that could enable them access various funds and loans by the government or other Non-government Organizations to scale up their business. Another challenge discovered that hindered their access to these traditional loans facilities was their level of education and inability to make available documentations and other requirements from a regular commercial bank to access loans. All the factors mentioned above made it impossible for these very hardworking women to access loans that could help them scale up their business and break the cycle of poverty and hand to mouth living experienced by these women.
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| A cross section of market women during a financial literacy programme by Sytiamo |
THE SYTIAMO INTERVENTION
Sytiamo Technology, with careful understanding of the peculiar challenges of these market women trading in various local markets decided to change the story of these women and work with them in ensuring that they have access to loans to scale up their business with minimum KYC (Know Your Customer) requirement. Like our Vison clearly states, The vision is to elevate women at the bottom of the economic pyramid through micro credit. The requirement to access this has also been made easy and simple for these women. All that is needed is to Be a woman, belong to a local market or association and you are eligible for our loan facility which ranges from N20,000.00 – N100,000.00.
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| Sytiamo beneficiary with Co-founders |
“Our sincere desire is that no woman out there struggles to get financial support to grow her business. To ensure that we reach every market as we are still growing. We have endeavoured to have a presence in the six geopolitical zones of the country and currently have impacted the lives of over 5,000 women with our presence in more than 100 markets across Nigeria. We want to live to our Mission which says ‘Providing convenient micro credit and financial literacy to market women wherever they are to improve their way of live and impact their communities’. We believe that the more market women we empower and support the more our communities are impacted and the country.
“There is no tool for development more effective than the empowerment of women” Kofi Anan
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| Excited customer during an End of Year programme with Sytiamo |
Sytiamo is committed to providing a support structure for women at the bottom of the pyramid for an improved socio-economic status and sustainable empowerment.
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| Sylvia Nnene Osakuade DMD, Co-founder SYTIAMO WinterABC2021 Business and Tech week Day4 Xoxo ©️Rachel Jesuseme |
An empowered woman makes an empowered nation.
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