An impact investment platform, SME.NG has unveiled Nigeria’s first all-female e-market platform, ‘Ebi’ Marketplace, to democratise access to finance and e-commerce for women entrepreneurs in Nigeria.

At the unveiling of the platform recently, Managing Partner, SME.NG, Thelma Ekiyo, said the platform was a direct response to the impact of COVID-19 on women-owned businesses in Nigeria, to ensure they remained sustainable and resilient to economic shocks.

She said the e-market platform, which would serve as financial inclusion, access to finance and access to markets platform, would also create better economic opportunities for women-owned businesses.

The Paramount Young Women Initiative, with support from the Feminist Humanitarian Network, has provided a zero-interest loan for sixty-two (62) women to improve their businesses as a means of giving them economic empowerment amidst the COVID-19 lockdown.