CHALLENGES AND PROSPECTS OF WOMEN ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT IN NIGERIA

Presented at the Focus Group Meeting of BUDFOW Stakeholders

Held at: Shehu Musa Yar Adua Center, Central Business District, Abuja

On October 9, 2014

Key: BUDFOW - Business Development Fund for Women.

Introduction

Nigeria is an entrepreneurial nation where most adults perceive opportunities, believe in their capability and declare themselves ready to start and run their businesses. ^[1]. It is no doubt that we lead the world in enthusiasm for business, but Nigeria is one of the few countries in the world where female entrepreneurs outnumber the males. As stakeholders in the quest for Women Economic Empowerment, this presents a positive implication for us especially the policy makers, as women breadwinners contribute more to the development of the country in general. According to World Bank Group research, women are more likely than men to contribute additional income to household poverty reduction, increasing women's economic power is more likely to translate into improved livelihoods for a wide cross-section of society, and women entrepreneurs are more likely to employ other women. In Nigeria, women are estimated to own or manage 25 to 30 percent of registered businesses. Only an estimated 10 to 15 percent of them, however, have access to appropriate bank credit, limiting their ability to develop and expand their businesses.

Over the years, a good number of international commitments support Women’s Economic Empowerment, including the Beijing Platform for Action, the Convention on the Elimination of All Forms of Discrimination against Women and the International Labour Organization conventions on gender equality. The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development (FMWASD) through the Transformation Agenda of the Dr. Goodluck Ebele Jonathan’s administration, has been at the fore front in mainstreaming gender equality at the economic front.

Women Economic Empowerment is a process of preparing and equipping the women for a safe and productive livelihood. Introducing the women to economic empowerment opportunities equips them with the knowledge and skills needed to achieve economic prosperity and voice.  Women Economic Empowerment involves a combination of the the following:

·        Access to Financial Knowledge and Capabilities

·        Access to Finance

·        Access to Productive Assets

·        Access to Information

·        Access to Market

·        Access to gainful Employment.

Women Economic Empowerment is not just an action but a process; it is not just access to Credit but a combination of all of the above, and more.

Challenges of Women Economic Empowerment In Nigeria

Over the years, cultural practices have placed the woman in economic disadvantage leading to feminization of poverty. Of the World poor living in less than $1 a day, 70% are women!!!. Inequalities in economic access to resources and participation in wealth creation continues to harm social cohesion, inhibit effective participation of women in the socio-economic development of Nigeria. The poorest half of Nigerian population that is largely women holds only 10% of national income (British Council Nigeria 2012). There is therefore a quantum loss suffered in terms of economic growth as a result of gender inequalities.

According to the 2012 ‘Gender in Nigeria’ British Council Report, if Nigeria is to maximize its demographic dividend, it must prioritize investment in women and girls to ensure that the next generation of all young adults are better educated and more able to contribute to economic growth and development.  Nigerian women run only 20% of enterprises in the formal sector with 23% of activity confined to the retail sector. [3]

Women Economic Empowerment in Nigeria is seem from the one-sided prism of Access to Finance and particularly Access to Credit. While Access to Credit is a major impediment to Women Entrepreneurship, it’s only one of the factors that encapsulate Women Economic Empowerment. Even within the context of Access to Finance, much concentration is placed on Access to Credit without recourse to other areas of finance such as Savings, Investment, Insurance and Pension.

It must be noted furthermore, that granting access to credit without financial literacy is an effort in futility. Making Business cash available to Women who lacked Financial Education (in the midst of poverty) is akin to giving a gun to a hungry young man. Your guess is as good as mine. Therefore, access to finance must be preceded and accompanied by Financial Literacy training. [2]

Another key challenge of Women Economic Empowerment in Nigeria is the failure to acknowledge the Lifecycle needs of Women in the design and deployment of financial products. The life cycle needs of Women are classified into three categories:

1.      Emergency needs: sickness, maternity, disaster.

2.      Consumption needs which could be planned: education, marriage, housing, old age.

3.      Productive needs: working capital, housing, Assets etc. for which loan products can be designed.

Ironically, the Business Development fund for Women (BUDFOW) is designed to address gender gaps ONLY in Access to Credit and assist women to own viable businesses. It targets Women Entrepreneurs who are desirous of transiting from micro to small scale or small to medium scale businesses. It is no secret that Nigerian Financial Institutions shy away from funding Start-up Businesses due to inherent risks; and if intervention funds such as BUDFOW exclude this category of Women, where do they run to? Little wonder therefore, that 61.6% of Nigerians still borrow outside formal financial institutions: [5].

Prospects of Women Economic Empowerment

Despite the challenges in ensuring Nigerian Women Economic Empowerment, there is tremendous opportunity for stakeholder to make remarkable impact in the sector. Most of the 43% women cited as economically inactive make their living through micro-enterprises, revealing that owning a business is the main source of income for Nigerian adults ahead of farming (18.7%) and wage employment (12.6%). The importance of micro-enterprises as the main source of income for Nigerian women in particular, makes it a strategic area for the empowerment of women.

Other factors that support the need to vigorously pursue financial inclusion of vulnerable groups especially women, in Nigeria is buttressed and amplified by findings from the EFiNA Financial Inclusion Survey 2012 which profiles the population of unbanked Nigerians and reveals that although 50.1 million (57%) of 87.9 million adult Nigerians are formally excluded from financial access, women are more financially excluded with 61.7% women as compared to 52.6% men within the Informal and Financially excluded bracket.

Nigeria’s Vision 20:2020 Economic Transformation Blueprint has the following as its core objectives:

·          Increasing Women access to credit and other productive resources by 80% by the year 2020.

·          Encouraging Women Entrepreneurs to form Cooperative Societies to be able to obtain loans from financial institutions.

·          Design and organize financial literacy, vocational and entrepreneurial skills training for rural and peri-urban women to equip them in dealing with cyclical poverty problems.

This Blueprint presents a tremendous opportunity for investors, policy makers and financial institution to put Women Economic Empowerment at the front burner.

Conclusions and Recommendations

The Economic transformation of any nation is hinged on her ability to achieve total inclusion of all sections of the society and especially Women. A holistic approach must therefore be made to ensure that gender gaps in economic opportunities are closed. In order to achieve an accelerated Economic Empowerment of Nigerian Women, the following must be pursed vigorously:

1.      Capacity Building: this must precede access to working capital and should be continuous until the business scales the start up phase into the growth phase. Capacity Building exposes the entrepreneur to business opportunities, and prepares them for challenges that are likely to arise in the business. The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has developed a brochure that can be easily adopted. These includes Generate Your Business Idea (GYBI), Start Your Business (SYB), Improve Your Business (IYB) and Expand Your Business (EYB)[a].

2.      Access to Market: information on local and export market opportunities should be widely disseminated to women in local dialects and in popular media such as radio, SMS, and other channels. Women-only Trade Fairs should be organized on a continuous basis to generate linkages between producers (women) and buyers in local and international Markets. There should be a formal linkage between the Women Entrepreneurs and the Nigeria Export promotion Council (NEPC).

3.      Monitoring and Mentoring: the BUDFOW desk must deploy a more efficient project monitoring system but beyond that, a Women Chamber of Commerce should be encourage where women can share information, and organize a mentorship program for upcoming businesses.

Thank You.

Mathias E. Amuta

An SME Development Expert based in Abuja

[Email: amuta_me@yahoo.com. Mobile: 08133165490]

REFERENCES

1.      Amorós, J, E. and Bosma, N. (2014). 2013 Global Report, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor, GEM.

2.      Amuta, M. E. (2013). Engendering Access to Financial Services in Nigeria. BusinessDay March 14, 2013.

3.      British Council Nigeria (2012). Gender in Nigeria

4.      Commonwealth Secretariat. (2013). Engendering Access to Financial Services. Report of Pan Commonwealth Capacity Building Workshop for Savings and Credit Organisation. Ahmedabad, India. February 2013.

5.      EFInA (2012). EFInA Access to Financial Services in Nigeria 2012 Survey.

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[a] Start & Improve Your Business (SIYB) programme is a management-training programme with a focus on starting and improving small businesses as a strategy for creating more and better employment in developing economies and economies in transition