Business Sustainability Focus Areas

Unity Bank, in line with its sustainability strategic focus, is actively involved in the agribusiness space, especially through the various CBN intervention schemes. The CBN intervention schemes covers some of the agribusiness value chain especially in primary production and processing. The Bank is very active in the primary production area and currently has relationship with most of the commodity associations in Nigeria, RIFAN, MAAN, NACOTAN, NECAS, WFAN, SOYABEANS and Anchors. We are also involved in supporting customers in the processing area to set up processing factories and also access crop aggregation facility to increase working capital.

• This Bank has also increased investment across the entire Agribusiness value chain. Our product bouquet includes products targeted at large, medium and Small scale farmers involved in integrated Agribusiness (Agro Input Supply, Aggregation of Agricultural Produce, Logistic and Storage of Agricultural Produce, Distribution and Retail, Food Processing, Tractorisation and Mechanization, Poultry & the Value Chain and Fishery & the Value Chain).
• In a bid to support the giant stride of the Federal Government, Unity bank developed a product to provide loans to agro input suppliers partaking in the Anchor Borrowers’ Programme. Over N1B was disbursed as LPO financing, Invoice Discounting & Guarantees. The Product targets suppliers of inputs like seeds, fertilizers, agro chemicals, knapsack sprayer, water pump etc. used for primary production of crops.
• The Aggregation product was designed as part of an effort to support the backward integration value chain in primary production of crops. The product is targeted at the medium and large produce aggregators/ processors to provide funds to the key players in the aggregation space, tap into the opportunities in the aggregation sub-sector thereby increasing the Bank’s market share and diversify the Bank’s Agribusiness portfolio.
• Unity Bank has made funding available to key actors in Nigeria Agricultural Logistics and Storage Industry as a way to reducing post-harvest losses and increase income. The product is targeted at all the stakeholders providing storage and logistics services.
• Tractorisation and Mechanization product is designed to improve agricultural production in Nigeria. The Bank has assisted several associations in the purchase of over 200 tractors in the past years.
• Unity Bank provides funding to key actors in Nigeria Poultry Value Chain thereby improving the production capacity of producers to meet the protein needs of the populace. The product is targeted at Companies that are into commercial production of Poultry products, poultry hatchery business, production of poultry feeds, processing of poultry products manufacturing of poultry equipment, sales and distribution of poultry products.

Despite challenging economic circumstances in Nigeria, financial inclusion continues to grow incrementally with more than half of Nigerian adults using formal financial services. According to the Central Bank of Nigeria, the National Financial Inclusion Strategy targets for 2020 was not met and will not be met until around 2030. Data has shown that there are 38 million financially excluded adults and 43% of these live in the North West. Unity Bank is using its presence and penetration in Northern Nigeria to advance financial inclusion through the use of financial service agents, and the use of digital financial services

• The Bank offers financial literacy through capacity building, increased awareness, collaboration with association and understanding of the population on financial products and services with the goal of increasing sustainable usage.
• We continuously improve on our Mobile-Payment System and other Cash-less Policy efforts to lessen the cost and enhance the ease of financial services and transactions
• The Bank partners with governmental agencies and non-governmental organisations in rural areas that are dedicated to bringing in financial inclusion.
• We are passionate about financially including women, encouraging them to take up more employment opportunities and be financially independent. We empower women belonging to low-income groups by increasing financial awareness among them and creating retail products targeted at this segment. Women are also taught in simple ways to save their money for future purposes. They are provided with exposure to multiple affordable savings instruments. They are also taught about the various forms of credit available in the market.

Our Digital & MSME Lending focus area aims to promote Information and Communication Technology (ICT) in the MSME sector through adaptation of the ICT tools in their business and payment processes. The scheme also aims at creating awareness about e-platforms and promoting digital marketing across other sectors as well. The Bank is championing a self-service loan product for working salary earners who seek to access personal loan conveniently without any need to visit the Bank. The Digital Lending Product is being made available to customers via the Bank’s USSD, Mobile and Internet Banking platforms.

Our focus on women’s empowerment is vital to achieving our mission of creating an equitable and sustainable world. Globally, women make up an average of 40% of the labour force in many countries and according to a survey by the United Nations, women seem to struggle with creating a healthy work-life balance than men. And over time this can lead to unhappiness at work, reduced productivity and even burn out. Unity Bank is committed to addressing systemic barriers that limit women’s empowerment through our product offerings, capacity building, health support, and strengthening partnerships among diverse stakeholders working towards the empowerment of women.

• The Bank developed Yanga Account, a woman-centric retail product (savings account), targeted at empowering women-owned SMEs (existing and start-ups), to drive financial inclusion in the country by offering mass-market targeted micro-lending solutions, inclusive micro-insurance cover, periodic financial training, a special debit card and target savings options. The product is open to the critical mass market women with special focus on rural entrepreneurs and low-income earning urban dwellers.
• The Bank partnered with the Reliance Family Clinics to give health talk to market women across Nigeria. The talk given by a medical doctor titled Woman to Woman: Real Breast Health addresses breast cancer risks, causes, symptoms, and treatments
• Free blood pressure monitoring and hypertension counselling, blood sugar monitoring and diabetes counselling, clinical breast examination and breast cancer counselling, hepatitis B screening and counselling and hepatitis C screening and counselling was offered to market women
• The Unity Bank Women’s Network was established to foster relationships between female staff, and provide mentorship opportunity for younger women to navigate the rigour and balancing required for career, personal growth, home, and work. Similarly, the network champions and advocate on social issues such as: gender equality, education, feminine leadership and career advancement, health and advance the sustainability focus of the Bank on women empowerment