NECA’s women network, ILO take entrepreneurial development to South-South Nigeria

To reach more women in its entrepreneurial training drive, the Nigeria Employers’ Consultative Association (NECA) and International Labour Organisation (ILO) have extended business women empowerment to South-South Nigeria.

Olusegun Oshinowo, director-general, NECA, urged women entrepreneurs in the South-South zone to be wealth creators by leveraging on the business opportunities in Nigeria. He made this statement at the pre-launch enlightenment programme of the NECA’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW) in the South-South zone, recently.

The fact that the business environment in Nigeria is surrounded by enormous challenges but the challenges could be surmountable when the entrepreneurs are focused and determined to thrive, he acknowledged. He applauded the ILO for collaborating with NECA in replicating the success story of NNEW in the South-South, assuring the women of the support of NECA in ensuring that women entrepreneurship was promoted and strengthened in the region.

In the same vein, Josephine A. Diete-Spiff, MD/CEO, Titare Microfinance Bank, and chairperson/proprietress, Bereton Academy Nigeria Ltd, enlightened the women on the topic ‘Making A Success of Business As A Woman Entrepreneur.’ In buttressing the director-general NECA’s view, she also identified the fact that starting a business was often challenging but could be started on a small scale, saying an entrepreneur must notice an opportunity, develop a plan, and must be innovative and creative.

She informed the women that “a productive idea is key to the success of a business,” encouraging women entrepreneurs to generate productive ideas from what they were familiar with, something they have a flair for and something they were passionate about.

In a presentation made by Modupe Ehirim, the second vice president of NNEW, she identified the need for capacity-building programmes for entrepreneurs to enable them put the right structure in place in running a viable, profitable and successful business in any given economy. She told the story of how she lost several millions of naira in the early days of her business due to ignorance, until she went through some business capacity-building training organised by NNEW using the ILO Modules. She added that training and re-training were paramount in any venture in life.

Hezron Njuguna, senior specialist, Employers’ Activities, ILO/SRO, Addis Ababa, said “women in Africa have come of age to face challenges as it arises in their business,” urging women entrepreneurs not to limit themselves in taking steps.

NNEW is a platform established in 2005 under the aegis of NECA to promote and nurture entrepreneurship among women. The Network has successfully groomed and mentored a large number of women entrepreneurs in the Lagos and Abuja metropolis, who have now been able to take their businesses to new heights. It has a membership base of over 300 women entrepreneurs.

By: OLUYINKA ALAWODE