BY PROVIDENCE OBUH AND FAVOUR AGBI
National Economic Re-construction Fund (NERFUND) has said that the Federal Government will achieve its desired sustainable economic development if the Nigerian woman is empowered financially to carry out business functions.

Deputy Manager, Corporate Affairs, Mrs Dymphina Undiandeye said this during the 5th Neca Network of Entrepreneurial Women’s (NNEW) Annual General Meeting (AGM) in Lagos.

Undiandeye who represented the Managing Director, NERFUND, Baba Maina Gimba, said “the Nigerian woman has the knowledge and idea, what she needs is the potential to expand and go beyond roadside trading. “Nigerian women form 50 per cent of the population, if we empower them as the engine of development, you will see that the sustainable development which the government is after will be achieved.”

Speaking on the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed by NNEW and NERFUND, she said, “we requested for their application which they sent but every application goes through a process, you don’t rush when it comes to money. We are assuring them that they will be given their loan.”

President of NNEW, Mrs Adenike Ogunlesi, highlighting the financial report for the year 2011, said the operating environment in the year remained challenging with the numerous business-environment-related problems that businesses have to contend with.

Ogunlesi said: ”Like the bigger organisations, Small Medium Enterprises (SMEs) have to provide all amenities that are needed for their business to function: generating their own power, security, water. The issue of multiple taxes from local and state governments also added to the cost of doing business.”

She commended the group’s achievement so far, pointing out that the MOU signed with the NERFUND this year is a huge plus, as a lot of women face the challenge of not having the collateral required to obtain a loan from the commercial banks.

Continuing she said: “We do not want members who will take the loan and they don’t have a solid base or they don’t have any business, it is a single digit interest rate and we encourage every woman who is focused, serious and ready to put it to work to apply for the loan.”

However, Counsellor, Petroleum Corporation Coordinator, Royal Norwegian Embassy, Ms. Kristine Waeringsaasen said that in anticipation of achieving the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), there must be an improved investment and empowerment among the women who form the basic untapped resource in the country.

Kristine said “Fifty per cent of the world’s population are women, it is a huge untapped resource. To promote economic development and to reach the millennium development goals, it is necessary to focus on women’s economic empowerment and increase the investment in women.”

To this end, she stated that gender equality in the labour market is necessary for a sustainable and well functioning state, adding that combining work and family should not be a paradox, advising government to organise things so the balance between work and time for children and the family is acceptable.

Meanwhile,  Director, International Labour Organisation  (ILO) Abuja office Mrs Sina Chukwu-Mkandawire established that the development and globalization have shown clearly that given the opportunity and removing most of the inhibiting social-cultural barriers, women have all the potential to excel in all fields of endeavour. “Creation of opportunities for women to access economic resources will thus benefit the socio-economic development of the Nigerian nation,” she stated.