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.
AmorĂ³s,
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.
[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
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