By Dickson Omobola, LAGOS

EXPERTS in business growth, yesterday, urged female business owners in Nigeria to take advantage of the Nigeria Startup Act, 2022, saying the law empowers businesses leveraging digital technology to expand faster.

The stakeholders said with the advent of Artificial Intelligence, AI, machine learning and social media, women could seize opportunities that come with globalisation in growing their businesses for the local and international markets.

Those who spoke at a workshop, themed: ‘Women Shaping the Future of Digital,’ included the Founder of the Orbra Company, Mr Ololade Otayemi; Project Manager of SheTrades and UPS Women Exporters Programme, Kritee Sharrma and Managing Director of UPS Nigeria, Mr Michael Umoh, organised by ITC SheTrades, UPS Women Exporters and Nigerian Export Promotion Council, NEPC, in Lagos.

They argued that if women could be empowered to use digital technologies, Nigeria would be better as they have shown to be great entrepreneurs.

Addressing newsmen, Mr Otayemi said: “One of the biggest policies shaping the digital landscape is the Nigeria Start-up Act, 2022, it empowers businesses leveraging digital technology to grow faster. We want to ensure that women are not left behind in this era of digital transformation. There are a lot of things happening with the advent of artificial intelligence, AI, machine learning and social media. We want to ensure that women can use technology to scale their businesses locally, especially women who can export their products and services. We believe that when you empower women, you have empowered the family and when you have empowered the family, you have empowered the nation.”

Umoh, in his speech, said: “This event is to ensure we reach out to women entrepreneurs in Nigeria and create a platform for them to showcase their skills, their businesses and create an opportunity for them to export outside the country as well as meeting their foreign partners to enable trade. With SheTrades, we have been speaking and collaborating with a lot of women; and we know one of their key challenges is not being able to showcase their businesses to their partners outside the country. With UPS, we are making that possible.

“We can provide that leverage for them to be able to partner with their colleagues and their partners and their customers within the country and outside the country. This workshop provides them with a platform to understand what digital technology means and the available opportunities. So, we are here to support them. We are here to create an enabling environment for them.”

On her part, Sharrma said: “Women have to take care of their professional lives, devote time to families, childcare and domestic responsibilities. In a lot of countries I have personally seen, especially Nigeria, a lot of women have come to me and told me about their inability to access finance. As we have learnt, a lot of times women don’t have traditional collateral, so they are not able to access mainstream financial services. With Nigeria on the brink of a digital revolution, we noticed that women don’t have the financial support to transition into this new age. We see more demand for tailored digital skills and access to new tools; that is why our partners, which include UPS and NEPC, have organised this workshop.”