A panel of female Niger Delta-based entrepreneurs has called on the governments of Niger Delta states to urgently implement innovative policies that would empower small and medium scale women entrepreneurs whose businesses have been severely impacted by the Coronavirus pandemic.
The panel noted that female entrepreneurs have emerged as breadwinners of their families following the economic downturn occasioned by the necessary restrictions placed to contain the spread of Covid-19 in their states.
The entrepreneurs encouraged women in business to persevere in spite of the harsh business environment and urged for support from government and corporate bodies to women in business.
The female entrepreneurs made the call during the Shell Petroleum Development Company (SPDC)-sponsored live radio programme, ‘Canvas-The Niger Delta Roundtable’, monitored in Port Harcourt.
Speaking on “Women in Business in a Challenging Era,” the panelists noted that the strong entrepreneurial spirit of the Niger Delta woman, who accounts for 41% ownership of micro-businesses in the region, has been severely threatened by the triple effects of “harsh economic policies, the Covid-19 pandemic and the more recent protests prevalent in several parts of the country.”
The panelists listed the challenges faced by women entrepreneurs in the Niger Delta to include difficult access to loans, patriarchy, double taxation, insecurity and cultural biases.
Port Harcourt-based Ford Foundation Fellow and an award-winning Social Work, Development and Impact Analyst, Dr Mina Ogbanga, said, “It is important to discuss women in business now because women make up 51% of the country’s population and a pandemic heightens all inequalities that already exist. Women are therefore more affected.”
Yenagoa-based 2017 winner of Shell Nigeria LiveWire Business Leaders Award and Creative Consultant/Chief Responsibility Officer of Queen Esther Multi Biz Services Nigeria Limited, Barrister Esther Bolou-Ebi, noted that the inequalities include “Patriarchy which has caused women to face severe challenges while doing business, double taxation, insecurity, poor access to loans and cultural biases”.
Bolou-Ebi, who is the founder of Farmtojuice and Foods Nigeria Limited, said, “Insecurity discourages people from doing business, while double taxation is another challenge businesses face”.
Winners of Shell Nigeria LiveWire Entrepreneur Awards in 2016 and 2017, respectively, Port Harcourt-based Mrs. Ibiere David and Warri-based Ms. Harriet Omoweh, said, “Though the pandemic affects all businesses, some of the challenges predominantly affect businesses run by female entrepreneurs who have to repeatedly defend her competence to command respect, whose marital status stereotypes her and is used to measure her ability to be entrusted with important businesses.”
They urged women in business to seek opportunities like Shell Nigeria LiveWire programmes that give credible opportunities to actualize their business visions and provide good quality mentors to better run their businesses.
The panellists said, “Enterprise is crucial to the development of an economy, especially of a country like Nigeria. Entrepreneurship is therefore essential for national development, poverty eradication and employment generation. It is the bedrock of any nation’s industrialization. And with about 23million female entrepreneurs operating in this space, women form an integral part of this development in Nigeria.”
The SPDC-sponsored Canvas-the Niger Delta Roundtable is a weekly live radio programme that is aired in the Niger Delta states to discuss the future of the oil-bearing region and reflect on topics relevant to the development of the region and its people.