By Henry Obetta

Village Head of Iwofe community in Akwa-Ibom, Chief Goodfellow Julius, has expressed appreciation to Sterling Oil Exploration and Energy Production Company Limited, SEEPCO, over ongoing empowerment initiatives brought to the community inorder to empower small and medium scale female entrepreneurs.

The initiative named “Financial Literacy Programme” which started on May 22 and expected to last for about two weeks, while engaging participants with essential business practices, including planning, budgeting, savings, pricing and customer relations. Sessions also covered financial record keeping, responsible spending and access to financial services.

The programme is being driven by VCDF, the foundation that coordinates the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility, CSR, programmes.

Julius said that the programme stood out because it goes beyond skills acquisition by equipping women with the knowledge, tools and confidence required to establish and sustain businesses.

According to him the initiative will positively impact many families and strengthen livelihoods across the host communities.

Some of the beneficiaries expressed deep appreciation to SEEPCO and VCDF for the opportunity, describing the programme as timely, practical and life changing.

Peace Emem, for example, saw it as a major turning point, noting that the training and starter pack support had given her the confidence to start her own business and contribute more meaningfully to her family’s wellbeing.

The programme which started last year drew about 1000 women from the company’s host communities who were broken into various clusters for ease of coordination. The beneficiaries were equipped with start-up funds, with which they were expected to start their micro businesses.

This year while partnering with VCDF, the company decided to invest more on those who had shown seriousness in their vocationsborganizing a second leg of training for the first batch of 100 women who were also assisted with working tools, including equipment, consumables and basic business materials required to begin operations.