How the Nigerian government might increase women’s economic empowerment

By 95ntw December 21, 2022 Business 0 Comments

How the Nigerian government might increase women’s economic empowerment

The Nigerian government has been given advice on the need to economically empower women through financial inclusion and accurate reporting of facts on rapid economic growth by experts at the 63rd conference of the Nigerian Economic Society (NES).

The Development Research and Projects Centre (DRPC), which sponsored the conference, examined Women’s Economic Empowerment (WEE) and its impact on the Nigerian economy.

The conference, with the title “Fiscal Sustainability and Policy Response for Economic Recovery in Nigeria,” took place from Wednesday through Friday at the Maryam Abacha American University of Nigeria in Kano.

Sophia Essahmed, the founder of the TSE Foundation, claimed that empowering women offers them a sense of self-worth, the freedom to make their own decisions, and access to opportunities and resources. She asserted that a crucial component of achieving women’s economic empowerment is financial inclusion.

Financial inclusion has a multiplier effect that benefits women, their households, and communities. It is a key enabler in reducing extreme poverty.Women were better able to seize chances and develop resilience as a result of the relationship between financial inclusion and women’s empowerment, according to Mrs. Essahmed. Hundreds of unbanked women will be enrolled in financial institutions, according to Mrs. Essahmed, in order to empower them and position them for chances.

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One of the nations in the world with the highest percentage of unbanked citizens is Nigeria. China, India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia, and Egypt are the other six economies, according to the World Bank’s 2021 Global Findex study.

According to the study, there are still 1.4 billion adults who are not banked, which means they do not have an account with a financial institution or a mobile money provider.

According to a World Bank research, “the top five economies housing the highest share of the world’s unbanked were the same in 2017 and 2021.”

Researcher Kareem Abdularraq highlighted obstacles to women’s economic empowerment after studying the budgets of the federal and state governm

According to Mr. Abdularraq, among his conclusions include the MDAs’ lack of coordination and the duplication of efforts in projects relating to women’s economic empowerment.

Researchers find it challenging to grasp the recipient based on gender and geography since empowerment programs’ sex breakdown is inadequate and prospective beneficiaries’ locations are not specified.

According to Mr. Abdularraq, “the statistics on budget performance from the MDAs have grown in 2022 compared to the 2021 approved budget, but it does not provide disaggregated data on specific interventions for women’s economic empowerment.”

He claimed that as a result of the service-wide vote, the women’s economic empowerment projects fund in the National Assembly’s N100 billion Zonal Intervention Project grew by 19.9% in 2020, 10.3% in 2021, and 0.7% in 2022.

Women’s Economic Empowerment is crucial, according to the moderator, Bala Kofar-Mata, a professor of entrepreneurship at Bayero University’s Dangote Business School. He asserted that Nigeria cannot fully grow without precise and trustworthy statistics.

The 63rd Conference of NES

On Wednesday, Ummu Jalingo, the president of the NES, informed reporters that this year’s topic was chosen to reflect Nigeria’s current macroeconomic and budgetary issues.

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The government’s policy approach to the fiscal sustainability dilemma will be addressed at the conference, according to Mrs. Jalingo.

She claims that the choice of Kano, 42 years after the conference was last held there, was made due to the state’s tranquility and friendly attitude.

She stated that in order for their initiatives to be successful, the organizers also intended to democratically transform economic society.

Being held in Kano is a positive development, and the participants enjoyed the peaceful atmosphere, she added.

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