UN Women Reels Out Loan Opportunities Available to Female Entrepreneurs in Nigeria
- The United Nations Women said female entrepreneurs in Nigeria have numerous loan opportunities at their beck and call
- Ms Beatrice Eyong, the UN Women's representative, made this known at the 2022 Gender and Inclusion Summit in Abuja
- Also, the minister of finance, budget, and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, said there are loads of federal government interventions for women
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FCT, Abuja - Nigerian female entrepreneurs have been prompted that many loan opportunities are accessible to them if only they ask the right questions.
Ms Beatrice Eyong, the United Nations Women’s country representative, made this known in Abuja at the Transcorp Hilton on Wednesday, November 16, during a panellist session at the 2022 Gender and Inclusion Summit organised by the Policy Innovation Centre (PIC).
Source: Twitter
While speaking on the loan opportunities available to female entrepreneurs, Ms Eyong stated that there are a series of banks in Nigeria that offers juicy loans to emerging female entrepreneurs.
She said:
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“We have banks that have credit lines to support female entrepreneurs.
“For instance, if you look at the activity that we carried out in Niger state, for smart agriculture, it was funded by Stanbic Bank.
“We have the FCMB bank; they have the “She Ventures”, which have up to 5 million loan opportunities without interest rates, to ensure that women can access finance.”
She further stated that they’re institutions available to render technical support to female entrepreneurs like the UN Women and UNDP.
When asked why there are still gaps despite the numerous opportunities she had reeled out, Ms Eyong said:
“First of all, we must know that Nigeria is a very big country. What a smaller country will do may for 8 million or 7 million women (sic); here in Nigeria, we have about 100 million women.
“So, there is work that is being done, but there is still more to be done. We acknowledge the fact that the legal framework is not yet perfect as we want it.
“But we think that the private sector, the banking sector are showing a good example. For example, they have reserved 30 percent of executive position within that sector, reserved for women.”
Finance minister speaks on govt interventions for women
Similarly, the minister of finance, budget, and national planning, Zainab Ahmed, also reeled out some of the federal government intervention that covers a lot of grounds for women.
She said:
"The federal government of Nigeria has the government enterprise empowerment program; the largest beneficiaries of this program are the women.
"We have also the 'conditional cash transfer program', 93 percent of the caregivers are women."
She further stated that there is a conscious policy decision by the government to look at areas where women will benefit more and do better.
Zainab revealed that her ministry's budget is also mapped out in a way that will be gender-sensitive, a method that they have sent out to MDAs under the ministry.
When asked about the monitoring and evaluating how female beneficiaries have utilised the various interventions, she stated that the 'conditional cash transfer program' where 93 per cent of the beneficiaries were women.
She revealed that the UN Women monitored the economic sustainability plan (ESP) process, and the outcomes were evident.
Zainab said the 50 per cent target for female beneficiaries was achieved during the program.
She said:
"In the JIK program, for example, it shows that the performance of the repayment of those small loans by the women is much better than the other folks (Men)."
She stated that when a loan is given to a woman, it is certain that she will return it on the due date, unlike the male folks.
FG reiterates commitment to lift 34 million Nigerians out of poverty by 2025
Meanwhile, Nigerians have been told that the Nigerian national development program for 2021 to 2025 will continue even after President Buhari leaves office.
Statistician-General of the Federation, Semiu Adeniran, revealed this in Abuja at the interactive session on multi-dimensional poverty.
He said the executive arm of government is in sync with the national assembly and political parties to continue the program.
Source: Legit.ng
