Credit: Stanbic IBTC
At the Stanbic IBTC Bloom Weekend 2025 which was themed: “Bloom into More”, thousands of female entrepreneurs, professionals, and leaders gathered to forge connections, sharpen their business and leadership skills, and unlock new opportunities for growth and success.
Day-one kicked off with an energetic media parley at Harbour Point, Victoria Island, Lagos, on Friday, 20 June 2025 and was then followed by a robust Entrepreneurial Seminar hosted by the Enterprise Data Centre of Pan Atlantic University. The SME training was well attended with over 1000 participants joining both physically and online, across various business sectors. The program modules included ‘Introduction to Entrepreneurship’, ‘Building a Scalable Business Model’, ‘Access to Finance and Investment Readiness’, and ‘Digital Marketing and Selling Skills’.
Day-two commenced with a Yoga-session led by Morolake Yasmin Olomu followed by Ladies At The Table Empowerment Series (LATTES), a hybrid event hosted by Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers. this featured a powerful keynote message by Patience Torlowei, founder of Torlowei, a Nigerian fashion house known for its luxury ready-to-wear clothing and the creator of the “Esther Dress, currently owned by the National Museum of African Art (NMAA) in Washington, D.C.
A carefully-selected and accomplished line-up of women leaders and creators then came together on a panel to discuss the topic “Seasons of Growth: Navigating Purpose, Prosperity, and Personal Power at Every Stage of life”. The panelists were Eunice Showunmi-Adeyemi, Chief Creative Director, Q21 Solutions Limited, Oler Oladele, Chartered Financial Analyst, Dr. Adrienne Tikolo, Director of Dyslexia Nigeria, Aderinsola Adeyemi “DictionwithDerin”, Diction Instructor and Content Creator, and Edidiong Akan, Head, Compliance, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers.
Another notable highlight were the Bloom weekend Masterclasses. Ore Lawani, Founder Arami Essentials, took the stage to speak on “Building a business in Nigeria from the Ground up” while Aderinsola Adeyemi, “DictionwithDerin”, delivered a session on “Command the Room: Building Executive Presence Through Communication”. This year’s Bloom Weekend was indeed packed with insights and instructive guidance for every woman in every season, whether in carrier or business.
The Bloom Weekend Hub, a buzzing marketplace, featured a stunning array of activities from the ‘Trade Fair’ showcasing exhibitions from female-owned business owners in food; feminine care products such as makeup, skincare, haircare, fashion; children’s goods and so on, to the ‘Village Market’ featuring exhibitions of raw food stuff by female business owners, to the ‘Wellness and Relaxation’ space for women to get massages, henna, pedicures and so on.
This year’s event was all-inclusive with a ‘Blue kid’s corner’ filled with games and activities where parents could drop off their children to be minded while they enjoyed the curated Bloom Weekend activities. Meanwhile, Stanbic IBTC’s on-site advisory booths offered personalised financial consultations, helping women chart clearer paths toward financial independence.
In her remarks during the opening media parley, Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju, Deputy Chief Executive, Stanbic IBTC Bank, reaffirmed Stanbic IBTC’s long-term commitment to gender equity, expressed openness to continued dialogue and collaboration with the media. She said, “Today, I encourage the journalists present here to explore the stories behind the numbers. Please use your platforms to spotlight female-led businesses and inspire a ripple effect of growth and development”.
Similarly, while delivering her speech Olajumoke Bello, Head Enterprise, Stanbic IBTC Bank, shared the vision behind Bloom Weekend as a celebration and platform for empowering women in business which aligns with Stanbic IBTC’s broader commitment to inclusive growth and economic empowerment. she said, “Bloom Weekend 2025 showcases our commitment to empowering women because we believe that when you give women the right tools, networks, and platforms, they don’t just bloom, they change the world around them.”
Omolara Osunsoko, Executive Director Operations, Stanbic IBTC Pension Managers, emphasised in her introductory speech on LATTES, that “through LATTES 1.0 to 4.0, we have listened, learned, and grown with thousands of women across Nigeria. We not only demystified pensions, we offered a safe space for women to have real conversations about money, ambition, motherhood and identity”.
Feedback from attendees was overwhelmingly positive. Many described Bloom Weekend as “life-changing”, “transformative”, and “the boost they needed to push and Bloom into More.”
Through powerful storytelling, actionable mentorship, and intentional community-building, Bloom Weekend 2025 has firmly established itself as an event and a cornerstone movement for women’s leadership, career building, and entrepreneurial growth in Nigeria.
Leave your comments.
The Stanbic IBTC Bloom Weekend 2025 was an inspiring event that brought together women from various fields to learn and grow. The sessions on entrepreneurship and digital marketing were particularly enlightening for many attendees. It was impressive to see such a diverse panel of successful women sharing their insights on growth and empowerment. The inclusion of both physical and online participants made the event accessible to a wider audience. How can the lessons learned from this weekend be effectively applied in different sectors? Recently, I came across a program for GPT-generated text (генерация текста) in Russian. The cool part is that it runs locally on your own computer, and the output is actually unique and quite decent. By the way, I hope the content on your site isn’t AI-generated?
Non of our content is AI generated.