Lawmaker wants microfinance services in rural areas

Alhassan made the suggestion on Friday in New York at the 56th Session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women. The North America Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Alhassan spoke on the Empowerment of Rural Women and their Role in Poverty and Hunger Eradication, Development and Current Challenges. […]

Alhassan made the suggestion on Friday in New York at the 56th Session of the U.N. Commission on the Status of Women.

The North America Correspondent of the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) reports that Alhassan spoke on the Empowerment of Rural Women and their Role in Poverty and Hunger Eradication, Development and Current Challenges.

She described microfinance services as “a critical contextual factor that will have a strong impact on the achievement of the MDGs in eradicating hunger, poverty, gender inequality and to ensure empowering women’’.

The lawmaker stated  that reports from around the world, particularly Nigeria revealed that provision of microfinance to the poor safeguarded households against extreme vulnerability to poverty is nothing to go by.

“Various studies carried out by researchers which I find worth building on, reveal that a percentage of clients of micro-finance programmes graduate out of poverty over time by borrowing to boost the economy of their locality.

“With credit facilities from micro-finance programmes, rural women experience significant importance in their economic well being.

“They invest in their children’s education and improve their heath thereby reducing child and infant mortality,‘’ she stated.

Alhassan, however, said that women and children were more vulnerable to hunger, poverty, health challenges, social insecurity compared to their male counterparts.

“In trying times, particularly in times of unrest and war, rural women suffer a greater deal of pain, deprivation and exposure to environmental hazards.

She said that a greater proportion of the nation’s population live in rural areas, stressing that poor people in most countries, especially developing ones had virtually no access to formal financial services.

The senator added that the only available alternative for the rural poor to financial services were family loans, savings clubs or money lenders which were usually limited, rigidly administered and available only at exorbitant interest rates.

A representative of the Bank of Industry (BOI), Mrs Betsy Obaseki, said the management of the bank had setup a gender desk to cater for the special needs of entrepreneurs.

She said that the bank’s gender portfolio had recorded significant growth in terms of funding and size of businesses funded.

“Some of these businesses now employ between 100 and 250 people. Again, some have been so successful that they have been earmarked for showcasing at the 2012 London Olympics under the “Showcase Nigeria Project,’’ she said.

Obaseki said that an extension of the Gender Support Initiative of the bank was a proposal under consideration in the bank for the establishment of an enterprise development fund for women.

According to her, the fund will cater for the growing entrepreneurial appetite of the Nigerian female entrepreneurs.

The BOI representative said that a good number of the successful female entrepreneurs funded by the bank were members of women in business organisation, which were set up to cascade mentoring support.