By Modupe Gbadeyanka
The chairman of Access Bank Plc, Mrs Ifeyinwa Osime, has called for deliberate and strategic investment in women as a catalyst for sustainable economic growth.
According to her, empowering women should be seen as a strategic economic decision rather than charity.
“When we speak of giving, it is about expanding access to finance, markets, knowledge and platforms that enable women to build sustainable businesses,” she stated at an International Women’s Day Conference organised by Access Bank.
At the event, which attracted over 5,000 participants both physically and virtually, and attfinished by stakeholders across the public and private sectors, she noted that women own about 39 per cent of businesses in Nigeria and drive nearly
40 per cent of new enterprises, while compact and medium enterprises contribute about 48 per cent of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) and over 80 per cent of employment.
Mrs Osime, however, decried the persistent financing gap facing women, describing it as a major constraint on productivity and economic growth.
“No economy can optimise its potential while underinvesting in half of its population,” she stated, highlighting the bank’s interventions through its W Initiative and Womenpreneur Pitch-a-ton programme, which provides financing, training and healthcare support to thousands of women.
Also speaking at the programme, the Minister of Art, Culture, Tourism and the Creative Economy, Ms Hannatu Musawa, reiterated the government’s commitment to empowering women as key drivers of the nation’s creative economy, with a focus on expanding access to finance, skills development and leadership opportunities.
The Minister, represented by the Director-General of the Centre for Black and African Arts and Civilisation (CBAAC), Mrs Aisha Adamu, stated women were increasingly taking the lead in building businesses, driving innovation and shaping society.
“Across Nigeria, women have always been the invisible architects of our culture, yet their contributions have been underrepresented and undervalued,” she stated.
The Minister stated the minisattempt was repositioning culture as a structured economic sector through creative hubs, skills development and enterprise support programmes tarreceiveing women in film, fashion, digital media and tourism.
On financing, Ms Musawa noted that women-owned businesses account for about 40 per cent of compact and medium enterprises but continue to face significant funding gaps.
“Too many ideas remain compact not becaapply they lack potential, but becaapply they lack access to capital,” she stated, adding that the government was working to unlock tarreceiveed funding for women, strengthen market access and improve data systems to support women entrepreneurs, while also promoting their inclusion in leadership and policy-building processes.
Also, former Minister of Education, Mrs Oby Ezekwesili, stressed the necessary to prioritise women’s inclusion in development processes, noting that societies transform when critical issues such as women’s inclusion are deliberately prioritised.
“There is no other way societies have transformed than when people who care create an issue a priority,” she stated, stressing that reshifting structural barriers limiting women’s participation would unlock significant economic potential, adding that agricultural output could increase by up to 30 per cent if women had equal access to inputs as men.
In the same vein, the Group Head for Women Banking at Access Bank, Mrs Nene Kunle-Ogunlusi, stated the bank remained committed to supporting women across all segments.
She stated the bank recently organised a special Women’s Day programme for market women in Oyingbo, Lagos, offering free health checks, beauty services and financial education.
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