The Nigerian Export Promotion Council (NEPC) is working out modalities to include women in export activities that will bridge the gender gap and reduce poverty.
The move is anchored on the belief that improving the performance of women businesses in non-oil export trade can translate into more jobs and also drive poverty reduction.
NEPC Executive Director/CEO Mr. Olusegun Awolowo made this known on the sideline of the yearly conference of the Nigerian Association of Commerce, Industry, Mines & Agriculture (NACCIMA) Business Women Group held in Lagos, recently.
He said $28 trillion could be added to the global economy by 2025 if women participated in the economy on equal footing with men.
Awolowo said: โCountries with greater economic opportunities for women score higher on competitiveness and national income. Companies with greater gender diversity outperform others on probability and market valuation. A woman spends up to 90 per cent of her income on her family compared to 40-50 per cent by men.โ
He, however, regretted that there were many impediments on the way of women making progress though Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) where they are mostly engaged, making up over 95 per cent of global businesses.
Awolowo said opportunities are still not the same for men and women, as they are 20 per cent less likely than men to have a bank account. โWomen have more business skills gaps and are more often excluded from the economy. Only one in five exporting firms is led by women,โ he said.
He further said the nation ranked 86 of 102 countries on gender inequality index, adding that NEPC would work towards building the capacity of women in business by bridging the skills gaps and embarking on hand-holding to ensure the businesses did not die as soon as they were initiated.
