Women entrepreneurs meet over access to funds

The Director-General, Global Centers for Human Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development, Mrs. Rose D.S. Gyar has said that women in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country find it difficult to access the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N220 billion intervention funds. Mrs. Gyar was speaking at the two-day round table discussion between the Federal […]

The Director-General, Global Centers for Human Empowerment and Entrepreneurship Development, Mrs. Rose D.S. Gyar has said that women in Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises (MSMEs) across the country find it difficult to access the Central Bank of Nigeria’s N220 billion intervention funds.
Mrs. Gyar was speaking at the two-day round table discussion between the Federal Government regulatory agencies and women in micro, small and medium enterprises held at the Raw Material Research Council yesterday in Abuja.
She noted that women who were  engaged in value addition to primary commodities in the agricultural sector through processing do not have access to funds adding that the “centre is collaborating with the federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development to establish a strategy for easy achievement of 60% access of the N220 billion MSMDF provided by the CBN for women.”
The DG said women in MSMES cut across all the sectors of the economy and they contributed towards job creation, poverty reduction and increase in family income through enhanced economic diversification.
Speaking with journalists at the event, the Bayelsa state coordinator of Women Enterprises Association,Mrs. Peace Oruama, stated that women in small and medium enterprises have a lot of challenges militating against them.
She mentioned their challenges to include access to funds, getting NAFDAC certification and packaging facilities, and called on government at all levels to assist them.
Women in business from all the geo-political zones are participating in the two-day event showcasing their products.