EFInA, dRPC, PAWED Set for Women’s Economic Empowerment

Mary Nnah

Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), a financial sector deepening organisation in collaboration with the Development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC), under the Partnership for Advancing Women In Economic Development, (PAWED), -a Bill and Melinda Gates funded project is set to hold a dialogue and dissemination event for the report on “Women’s Economic Empowerment in Nigeria: A Critical Look at Access to Financial Services in Nigeria.”

The event which is scheduled to hold on Wednesday, July 20, is a unique opportunity for stakeholders within the financial inclusion space to learn about the progress made over the years with financial inclusion in Nigeria especially as it relates to women and micro business owners.

The virtual dissemination event is aimed at sharing insights on women’s economic empowerment and initiating conversations with stakeholders on how to program for women’s economic empowerment while highlighting the opportunities for women’s economic empowerment to foster household and national economic prosperity. The conversations would proffer solutions on the way forward in addressing women’s economic empowerment challenges in Nigeria.

The Chief Executive Officer of EFInA, Isaiah Owolabi, in his statement made available to journalists, expressed the need to accelerate the investment and impact of women-led businesses.
According to him, through our work at EFInA, insights have proven that women in Nigeria are underrepresented in formal wage employment requiring higher education & specialised skills and overrepresented in vulnerable/informal employment.

The majority of women in Nigeria lack access to healthcare, education, water and sanitation, financial services, and Information and Communication Technology (ICT), all of which are necessary for economic growth.
Owolabi further hinted that the traditional involvement of Nigerian women in subsistence-level activities essentially means they are historically equipped with entrepreneurial skills, know-how, and experience that can be leveraged for inclusive growth and lasting national prosperity.
The event would have a panel discussion titled: “Inclusive finance as a catalyst for women’s economic empowerment initiatives in Nigeria” which would be moderated by Dr. Oluwatomi Eromosele, a Research Manager at EFInA.

The online dialogue would have in attendance – Dr. Zakariya’u Lawal mni, Director, Monitoring and Evaluation Department – Federal Ministry of Finance Budget and National Planning; Barrister Vera Ndanusa, National President – National association of women entrepreneurs (NAWE); Uzoma Dozie, CEO, Sparkle; Sophie Abu, Head, Gender Desk -Financial Inclusion Delivery Unit (FIDU), CBN; Emezino Afiegbe, Senior relationship manager, – Women’s World Banking.

Data from the African Union highlights evidence that empowering women can result in benefits for societies at large, progress on gender equality and women’s empowerment particularly in Sub-Saharan Africa (SSA) has been far too slow and will require concerted efforts to achieve.

It is important to promote women’s access to financial services and socio-economic empowerment programs as it can unleash a strong force for innovation, productivity, and economic growth as women are more likely than men to invest resources and profits in children’s health and education.
Women are still facing significant challenges in access to markets due to lack of finance, societal challenges, lack of essential business skills & prevailing gender norms.
Learnings from the report and conversations from the event would inform the reshaping of investments that support women’s enterprises and yield better empowerment and economic opportunities for women.