2,500 Women-led Businesses in Nigeria, Other West African Countries to be Empowered

Michael Olugbode in Abuja

Do Take Action Organisation (DO), a non governmental organisation (NGO), in partnership with UN Women have set a target of empowering 2,500 women-led businesses in Nigeria and other West Africa countries through Affirmative Procurement.

Both DO and UN Women had launched the Women Economic Empowerment through Affirmative Procurement (WEEAP) training programme in the West Africa region in May 2023.

The flagship programme was launched in four countries; Nigeria, Mali, Senegal, and Côte d’Ivoire, with the initiative aimed to bridge the gender gap in public procurement by strengthening access to opportunities for women-owned businesses and fostering a more inclusive economic environment.

A statement on Wednesday, said despite women leading a significant portion of Micro, Small, and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) in West Africa, about 41% representing 23 million female entrepreneurs, contributing substantially to regional economies, and accounting for an average of 20% in GDP, women receive only a small fraction of procurement contracts.

The statement further read that public procurement represents a significant portion of GDP – 14.9% in OECD countries and nearly 40% in sub-Saharan Africa, and in Nigeria, for instance, women’s businesses capture only 1% of federal and state-level procurement contracts, despite the country spending $1.1 billion annually.

According to a NACCIMA 2021 statistics from only N4.73 million reaches women-owned businesses, this disparity hinders women’s economic growth and limits the overall economic potential of the region.

Speaking on this, the CEO of DO, s
Precious Ebere, said: “The WEEAP programme is a critical step towards achieving gender equality in West Africa.

“By providing women-led businesses with the tools and resources they need to compete for public contracts, we are not only empowering women but also unlocking the full economic potential of the region.”

According to the statement, the UN Women tackles this challenge through a multi-pronged approach, policy reform (advocating for and supporting the implementation of gender-responsive procurement policies); Institutional strengthening (enhancing the capacity of government institutions to manage inclusive procurement processes),
capacity building (equipping 2500 women-owned businesses with the skills and knowledge to compete effectively for government contracts.)

They are also involved in gender-responsive supply chains (promoting best practices for integrating women-led businesses into public sector supply chains); government official training (empowering 300 government officials to formulate and implement gender-responsive procurement policies), COVID-19 response (tailoring specific activities to support the inclusion of WOSMEs in COVID-19 response procurement efforts.

The statement added that, in line with the objectives of the UN Women, DO Take Action in pursuit of one of its thematic issues which is to drive initiatives for the Inclusion, Empowerment, Equality and Justice for underrepresented groups like women and girls, partnered with UN Women to launch this flagship Women Economic Empowerment through Affirmative Procurement in West and Central Africa, to strengthen equal opportunities to access procurement and strengthen the capacity of women-led SMEs in Nigeria, Senegal, Mali, and Cote d’Ivoire to competently participate in the procurement industry.

It said the programme will directly benefit over 2500 Women-Owned Small and Medium Enterprises (WSMEs) by:
strengthening equal opportunities (the programme will advocate for and implement reforms in procurement policies to ensure a level playing field for women-owned businesses), building capacity (WSMEs will receive training and support to improve their competitiveness and ability to win contracts), supporting government institutions (the initiative will work with government officials to enhance their capacity to formulate and implement gender-responsive procurement practices.

Programme Specialist for Women Economic Empowerment at the United Nations Entity for Gender Equality and the Empowerment of Women (UN Women), Dr. Chukwuemeka Onyimadu, said: “This programme is a powerful example of how public-private partnerships can drive positive change,” adding that: “By working together, we can create a future where women entrepreneurs have the opportunity to thrive and contribute fully to the economic development of West Africa.”

According to the statement, the collaborative effort aligns with the African Union’s Agenda 2063, which prioritizes creating an enabling legal and policy environment for women’s economic empowerment. The project also contributes to UN Women’s strategic plan and Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 5: Gender Equality.