Christine Onwuachumba
Adaeze Ukamaka Ozongwu, president, Nigerian Association of Women Entrepreneurs (NAWE), has expressed worry that, since the advent of killer herdsmen, agricultural practice by women has been adversely affected.
In this interview with Daily Sun recently, she contended that cattle ranches, backed by legislation, should be embraced by all stakeholders because women’s inability to continue farming in the face of threats to life and livelihood is affecting Nigeria’s food security.
What is it like being in the leadership of NAWE?
It has been a learning process for me. We have stayed together and worked together as a group, not as individuals. Our volunteerism and hands-holding have been our strength.
Motivating and appreciating members is the norm. Our projects are mostly needs and value-driven. The leadership team strives to build solid relationships with members. We offer selfless service, devote time and thrive on collective competency above individual prowess.
It is in our purview to inspire our members and, when it comes to agreed policy directions, we exhibit consistency, compassion and commitment. I feel privileged to be at the helm of the NAWE leadership team.
What challenges do women entrepreneurs face?
The challenges are many and varied, depending on the entrepreneurial space in which the women are operating. For those in the micro, small and medium enterprise (MSME) sector, the most threatening challenges include lack of access to funds and social interventions, multiple and arbitrary taxation, insecurity due to marauding herdsmen and inadequate infrastructure. It is a very long list.
How can these challenges be surmounted?
Information must be disseminated to reach MSME practitioners in real time. In this regard, local language must be deployed to ensure the message/information is properly understood. The media has to partner government and private sector to achieve this.
The interventions finance houses have in circulation are out of reach of majority of the women in the SME and MSME sectors. About 77 per cent of women in Nigeria lack access to financial services. The implication of this exclusion is huge. Entrepreneurs should be brought in as partners.
When banking products or social interventions are being crafted, a broad stakeholder base must be called in to make input. Building the capacity of women entrepreneurs to qualify for these products is key. Financial literacy of women entrepreneurs is an investment that banks should consider. Integrating women business into the mainstream of the economy would be beneficial. Lack of inclusion continues to reinforce the cycle of poverty, slowing down the impact women can make to economic enhancement of the nation.
Entrepreneurship is a viable alternative to reduce unemployment, ensure healthy families, educate the girl child and enable women to combine work with reproductive and family responsibilities.
A high percentage of women businesses is in the MSME cadre and they operate in the low-value business sector and crowd the informal sector. There is need to improve the environment for these women businesses to thrive. This must be evident in both policy and operational levels in finance institutions.
Finance products innovation must be gender-sensitive. It is very important that these financial products address the specific needs of women entrepreneurs.
A good percentage of women entrepreneurs are in the MSME sector. Buying locally-made goods will boost their businesses. Government, being a huge buyer of products and services, must show political will by walking its talk and leading by example.
In the areas of agriculture, how are women specifically disadvantaged?
Existing patriarchal systems and prevailing cultural norms hold women back. The patriarchal system makes land ownership difficult for women and should be reviewed with a view to abolishing them as they infringe on the rights of women. A denial of property rights based on gender is an abuse of the fundamental rights of women.
Since the advent of the menace of marauding herdsmen, agricultural practice by women has been fraught with trepidation and hence negatively affected. Women are now afraid to go to the farm and it is affecting the food security of the country. Ranching of grazing animals, backed by legislation, should be embraced by all stakeholders.
What is NAWE doing to ensure Nigerian women entrepreneurs are financially empowered?
Negotiating access to funds is one of the key areas NAWE has made impactful incursions. We realise that inadequate capacity on the part of women affects their chances of accessing credit from financial institutions.
To address this, NAWE has partnered with institutions to build the capacity of women in bookkeeping, embracing formal banking and all it takes to be financially literate. Loans or credit are not always the best for start-ups. The imperative to start small, dream big and move step-by-step is our advice to our budding entrepreneurs.
Mentoring/hand-holding between those in SME and MSME has helped bridge this gap and exposed our women to the expertise of others who have made it. Advocacy in collaboration with other NGOs has helped birth the National Collateral Registry, which is friendlier to women than the status quo hitherto.
NAWE has raised its own funds to help its members who would never qualify for the upscale process demanded by financial institutions. The NAWE Angel Intervention Funds (NADIF) affords members access to credit, collateral-free and at zero interest. NADIF is generated, owned and disbursed by NAWE members. Our goal is for it to be adequately capitalised to become a micro-finance bank.
Exposure to social interventions put in place by the government through agencies Like BOI and CBN would mean bigger business opportunities, more food on the table, movement to the formal sector and financial inclusion.
What are the hard choices women entrepreneurs face?
Entrepreneurship comes to women very early and evolves naturally too. Consider the innate ability they exhibit at being successful home managers yet receive no pay for the long hours they put in. Women entrepreneurs take family responsibilities very seriously. They have to face the choice of depleting their capital to ensure food is on the table, the girl child is educated and health care provided for the family.
In making these choices, mental exhaustion sets in and peace in the family is usually threatened as she runs from pillar to post to make ends meet. Balancing career, family and social responsibilities is a daunting choice for women entrepreneurs.
The multiple roles women play, including reproduction, leave them vulnerable to maternal mortality. Poor nutrition and stress thrown up by these roles expose them to poor health.
The entrepreneurship space is very unfriendly for women entrepreneurs, as certain areas of practice are already stereotyped and an unwritten norm makes it the exclusive preserve of a particular gender.
In agriculture, women are not empowered with the skills to receive firsthand information on improved agricultural practices. Similarly, the land tenure system is unfavourable to women among others. Consequent to this, there is a looming food insecurity and rural feminine poverty which hinders the sustainable development of the nation.
Government is advised to adopt a gender-sensitive approach to rural development by mainstreaming gender equality principles into agricultural programmes. Empowering women for participation in decision-making and leadership in agriculture is the most effective way forward.
Cultural norms have also become an albatross. Culture is dynamic, not static. Making a deliberate effort to keep qualified women entrepreneurs in ‘the other room’ instead of the boardroom does not help grow the economy.
Also, women lack mentors and role models. It is not possible to succeed in male-dominated business sectors, if you do not have the privilege of a mentor. There is a need for a review of the denied rights to property and education, which women face.
What is your advice to young entrepreneurs?
Be bold change agents. Go with your passion. Be original and ensure it is what you have a passion for. Start small, take calculated risks and grow from there, dreaming big as you go. Be strict with your bookkeeping and finances.
Entrepreneurship is an intervention that takes a lot of our youths off the job market, hence, reducing unemployment.
For the young ones, entrepreneurship is the way to go. It unlocks your innovation and enables you to manage your growth. It is also an act of patriotism. The road in this space is not smooth.
There will be disappointments, obstacles and an urge to give up. Whenever you get to that point consider the four P’s: passion, persistence, planning and perseverance.