The Scotiabank Women Initiative is continuing to offer more support to women entrepreneurs through its three pillars – accessing capital, education and advisement.

The Scotiabank Women Initiative on Tuesday (October 25), held a ‘Financial Planning 101 Workshop’, where early business planning, properly assessing financial needs, developing an investment portfolio and succession planning were highlighted as necessary aspects of operating a successful business and accessing financing from the bank.

Earlier this year, Jamaica was named as the country in the Caribbean with the highest cost of finance for women relative to men by the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB).

Women entrepreneurs benefited from a presentation on necessary financial infrastructure for running an SME, by Serika Sterling, managing director of Senior Accounting Services Limited, followed by presentations from Scotiabank managers about accessing financing.

The Scotia Women Initiative began in January 2022 with a vision of breaking down barriers to provide greater economic opportunity to women to empower them to take greater control of their financial future, businesses and careers.

“We committed to doing this through three strategic pillars – access to capital, education and advisement,” said Yvett Anderson, regional director, District A, Retail Banking, Scotiabank.

As part of the Scotiabank Women Initiative, business owners have access to a loan fund of $3-billion dollars at a rate of seven per cent. The fund will be available over three years, offering special rates to women-owned and women-led businesses. Small and medium-sized enterprises (SME) may access up to $30 million, and up to $100 million through the Corporate & Commercial Banking Center (CCBC).

Read: Jamaica cited as the most costly place in the Caribbean for women to access finance, relative to men