Katagum: Women Empowerment Key to Economic Devt

James Emejo and Folalumi Alaran in Abuja

The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Maryam Katagum, has said women empowerment remains a major ingredient towards the development of the country particularly as the government looks to agriculture to diversify the economy.

Noting that women are vital to the progress of all economies, she lamented the existing disparities in economic participation of women in the country adding that this, “should be of great concern to everyone”.

Speaking on, “Women in Economic Development, Commerce and Industry,” at the 60th exhibition of Made-in- Nigeria Products, Katagum said resolving these issues remained paramount to the country’s socio-economic development.

She said: “In order for women to fully harness their contributions to economic development, they require equal access to all opportunities available to men.”

The minister said among other things that Nigeria needed to domesticate the Buenos Aires Declaration on Trade and Women’s Economic Empowerment (2017), wherein members of the World Trade Organisation (WTO) had agreed to collaborate in making trade and development policies more gender responsive and specifically remove barriers on women’s economic empowerment and increase their participation in trade.

According to her, the Declaration, among other things, called for the enhancement of women entrepreneurs’ participation in public procurement.
However, the minister pointed out that overtime, the federal government had developed policies and institutional structures that encourage equality and aim to increase the participation of women in all sectors of the economy.

She said her ministry, which has a mandate to create an enabling environment to stimulate industrialisation and accelerate domestic and foreign investment, had successfully championed the development of MSMEs to create jobs and drive inclusive growth while also promoting the integration of Nigeria-based businesses into regional and global value chains.

The minister noted that the recently launched Gender Initiative of the Commodities and Export Department (GICED) of the ministry aims to use available resources to support women to realise their potentials in the commodities and export trade sub-sector.
She also said the MSME Survival Fund, as part of the Economic Sustainability Plan (ESP) was mulled to support and protect small businesses from the vulnerabilities brought by the COVID-19 pandemic.

She added that the N50 billion Export Expansion Facility Programme, currently being implemented by the Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC), was aimed at empowering exporters in expanding their businesses including women through non-oil exports.
She said: “Throughout history women have played various roles as economic actors: from food gatherers and processors in ancient societies, to providing substantial portions of farm labour in traditional societies, including, unfortunately, as slaves and indentured workers, to providing the bulk of factory labour during the world wars.

“In ancient Arabia and Pre-Colonial Africa, women were established captains of commerce controlling large trade caravans and major trading houses.
“The working woman is a common phrase that has emerged in recent times. This statement is untrue because women have always worked.
“The only circumstance that has changed in recent times is that women’s work is starting to be adequately recognised and their efforts, compensated.”