FG, W’Bank empower 25,000 Ekiti women with investment funds

File photo: Minister for Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim

The Federal Government, in partnership with the World Bank and Ekiti State Government, has begun the disbursement of community investment funds to 1,500 women’s groups in the state to facilitate business expansion and economic growth. The Minister of Women Affairs, Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, said that the empowerment under the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up Project reflected President Bola Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, as it prioritises poverty reduction, job creation, social protection, and economic dignity for all Nigerians, especially women. Sulaiman-Ibrahim, who spoke in Ado Ekiti on Thursday during the flag-off ceremony and disbursement of community investment fund to women affinity groups in the state, said the initiative was a response to the structural barriers that women had continued to face in access to finance, technology and markets, among others. The 1,500 women’s affinity groups comprised 25,000 women participating in various economic activities, while the Ekiti NFWP-SU Project has reportedly created jobs for 215 persons in the state. The minister said, “Evidence shows that women-owned enterprises remain significantly underfinanced. In response to this reality, the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development, in partnership with the World Bank and the state governments, is implementing the Nigeria for Women Scale Up. Targeting approximately 5million women nationwide in this second phase. “In the first phase, we were able to reach 450,000 women who were economically empowered and empowering others. Today, Ekiti State has recorded 1,500 women’s affinity groups bringing together over 25,000 women actively engaged in productive economic activities. “This programme is designed to expand financial inclusion, strengthen enterprise development, build skills and deepen community-based economic organisations through women’s affinity groups.” She described the beneficiaries, who she said had benefited from mobilisation, sensitisation, capacity building and institutional strengthening across participating local government areas, as “women who are saving, women who are investing, women who are supporting their households and strengthening local economies.” She said, “The women’s affinity groups are economic units of trust, they enable women to save collectively, build financial discipline and get capital, share knowledge and resilience. When women organise, they multiply their income, stability and influence.” The minister said Governor Biodun Oyebanji had promised to expan