Lagos State Government has reaffirmed its commitment to implementing policies and programmes that will encourage more women participation in governance, harness their full potentials and empower them to become employers of labour and wealth creators.
The Deputy Governor, Dr. Idiat Oluranti Adebule stated this while speaking at the 15th edition of Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) annual Conference held at Eko Hotels, Victoria Island, Lagos.
Dr. Adebule commended members of WIMBIZ for their commitment and dedication to elevating the status and relevance of women in the country, noting that their efforts in the past had helped to encourage women to contribute more to discussions on nation building and development.
While describing the theme of the 2016 WIMBIZ Conference,
“The Next Frontier: New Landscape, New Possibilities”, as most appropriate and relevant, the Deputy Governor hoped that the conference will provide women with the knowledge, skills and necessary exposure needed to break new grounds while they leverage on various opportunities around them to unleash their full potentials in the development agenda for the country.
Dr. Adebule disclosed that a recent research by the BMI Research Company indicated that Nigeria is one of the ten markets in the world where investment in construction and manufacturing thrive and urged women to tap into this opportunity and other areas of investment such as ICT and full-scale agriculture to develop their economy.
As a demonstration of government’s commitment to women development, the Deputy Governor revealed that the State government recently entered into a partnership with the African Women Innovation and Entrepreneurship Forum (AWIEF) to enable women in the State access the 300 million dollars earmarked by the African Development Bank (ADB) Affirmative Finance Action for Women in Africa.
This effort, according to her, is expected to boost and avail women and owners of small-scale businesses, credit and soft loans, to tap into several investments opportunities and free them from the shackle of poverty.
She further disclosed that the present administration has also established the 25billion naira Lagos State Employment Trust Fund to invest in small and medium scale businesses and support young entrepreneurs especially women to grow their businesses.
In addition, Adebule said that the State government, through the Ministry of Women Affairs and Poverty Alleviation, in collaboration with the Action Health Incorporated recently launched the Strategic Action Plan for the Marginalized out of schools girls living in some parts of the State, adding that that the focus of Governor Akinwunmi Ambode led administration is to continue to implement programmes and policies that are women focused so as to help them harness their full potential and contribute their quota to the growth of the society.
Earlier in her welcome address, the ‘WIMBIZ’ Chairperson, Mrs. Aisha Ahmad stated that the focus of the conference was to help women strategically navigate their way out of the negative impact of the current economic recession and identify various opportunities that can help them to contribute to the process of revamping the economy.
According to her, the economy is undergoing a slow but significant transformation and it is important that women are well positioned to ensure they remain relevant in the new economic order.
