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From Ndubuisi Orji, Abuja
The Minister of Industry, Trade and Investment, Jumuoke Oduwole, has said there is need for the country to harness the potentials of women in the quest to advance industrialization and intra- African trade through the African Continental Free Trade Area(AfCTA).
Oduwole stated this, on Friday, while speaking at a “Colloquium In Honour Of Women’s Role In Industry, Trade And Investment’ with the theme: “Positioning Nigeria To Lead Intra-African Trade.”
The Minister noted that women already dominate large segments of Nigeria’s real economy, including retail, textile and garment, agribusiness processing among others, said potentials must not be left untapped.
This is as a coalition of Northern women, on the aegies of Tinubu Northern Women Support Group, (TNWSG), have unveiled plans to empower 100,000 petty traders in the region.
The coalition, in a statement by its National Coordinator, Aisha Aliyu Obalim, said the initiative is aimed driving economic inclusion in the Northern region.
The women noted that while are in support of the re-election of President Bola Tinubu, to enable him advance his various reforms, they believe that women should be empowered across the nineteen Northern states and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) as they make their choices in the 2027 general elections.
According to them “empowering the women in the Northern region is a move of investment on the economic backbone of the region. The selected 100,000 beneficiaries will receive financial grants to boost their petty trade significantly.
“This funding is specifically structured to serve as a boost to their working capital, designed to be ploughed directly into their existing petty trade enterprise—to grow inventory, expand market reach, and boost overall livelihood.
“This initiative is about sustainability and growth. It will be a grant serving as a tool to unlock the potential of these hardworking women, enabling them to scale their petty trading into significant commercial ventures in every part of the three geopolitical zones of the North East, Northwest and North Central states in the region.”
Oduwole, while noting that less than 5% of the women have have formal governance systems which affects the way they conduct their affairs in business governance, said the potentials of women must be optimized.
According to her, “Women already dominate large segments of Nigeria’s real economy. Across retail, textiles and garments, agribusiness processing, nutrition systems, and light manufacturing, women-led MSMEs are deeply embedded in value chains. There are over 8 million women-led MSMEs in Nigeria generating over $15 billion in annual revenue.
The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who also spoke at the colloquium, stated that Nigeria’s economic transformation must be inclusive by ensuring that women are fully integrated into national and continental trade systems.
“Women account for approximately 70 percent of Nigeria’s agricultural labour force, yet they own less than 14 percent of agricultural land, access less than 10 percent of formal agricultural credit, and constitute a fraction of those registered in formal agricultural export schemes. They do the work. They bear the risk. But the system was not designed to reward them,” she stated.
