Twenty two per cent of women bankers are in banks’ boards, against 40 per cent target set by the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), THE Consumer Awareness and Financial Enlightenment Initiative (CAFEi) has said.
In a statement, CAFEi President, Mrs. ‘Debola Osibogun, said there has been growing consensus on the positive correlation between female participation in economic activities and increased growth and efficient management of resources across the world.
“A recent study by McKinsey Global Institute found that $12 trillion could be added to global Gross Domestic Product (GDP) by 2025 if female participation in the public, private and social sectors of the economy increased. Despite the increasing participation of women in politics across the world, albeit at a scale still far behind the male counterparts, these achievements of the few who have managed to break the glass ceiling has been likened to a ‘cartel’, where only the powerful are admitted whilst the rest are shut-out from making inroad into political relevance,” she said.
The narrative rings true for Nigeria where an average of only 6.7 per cent of women are represented in politics either through elected or appointed positions; 22 per cent of bank boards are female as opposed to a CBN target of 40 per cent, and according to the World Bank, just 17.52 per cent of 15-64 year-old women were engaged in some sort of employment in 2017. A 2013 survey by the Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) showed that 23 per cent of small or medium sized enterprises (SMEs) were owned by women and although this increased to 43 per cent for micro enterprises (MSMEs), they are not captured as part of the economic activity as they relate to the informal sector.
Osibogun said several steps have been taken globally and in the local environment to drive broad-based inclusive economic growth and close gender gap largely as a mechanism for poverty reduction and in the pursuit of shared prosperity. Development institutions such as the Bank of Agriculture, Bank of Industry have rolled out series of intervention funds targeted at enhancing access to finance for women as part of the growing effort to drive financial inclusion for all. Similarly, several regulations, even though gender-neutral, have been targeted at eliminating barriers to participation in several sectors which have traditionally impaired ability of women to compete.
“One of such is the recent regulation passed by the President Muhammadu Buhari government – The Federal Competition and Consumer Protection Act (FCCP), which came into effect on February 6, 2019. The Act repeals the Consumer Protection Act Chapter 25, Laws of the Federation Nigeria 2014 and Sections 118-128 of the Investment and Securities Act which regulated Mergers and Acquisitions (M&As) via the Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC).”
