Follow Us on Google
The Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of a finance firm, Trade Lenda, Adeshina Adewunmi, has said the organisation had disbursed N7.17 billion to Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) in the last four years.
He made this known at the firm’s fourth anniversary, which brought together customers, partners, investors and staff in Lagos.
He said since it was established in 2021, Trade Lenda has created 10,000 jobs, impacted 69,000 farmers through financing, while 113 small businesses and 260,000 business communities have benefitted.
He further said 65 percent of businesses that have benefited from the company’s ;fans were those owned by women, while the Firm has recorded 95 percent customer retention rate.
He said the firm focuses more on empowering female traders as a way of encouraging gender inclusivity in business.
“We have focused on privately tailored financing, as well as capacity for small and medium businesses. We started in May 2021 with limited resources and were able to disburse less than N50 million. However, we have now grown to over N17billion. The goal is to create access to credit for female traders and distribution channels so they can grow, get loans and return them,” he said.
He further said the marking of the company’s fourth anniversary was an opportunity to reflect on what it has achieved and chart a new path for further growth.
“It was a reflection of four years of unwavering dedication to solving one of Africa’s biggest economic challenges: access to credit for micro, small and medium-sized enterprises, MSMEs. What started as a vision to support underserved small businesses has become a movement, one that continues to create jobs, scale businesses and fuel grassroots economies,” he said.
One of the beneficiaries of the company’s financial assistance, Adetutu Comfort from Ilorin, Kwara State, hailed the company for impacting businesses through their loans.
“Since they came to Ilorin for a trade fair, they have impacted our business. They have helped my business to grow,” she said.
He said the company was working towards hitting N10 billion loan disbursement in next one year.
