CBN worries over women’s low participation in economic programmes

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has expressed worry over assessed non-committal of the general public, especially the women, towards the myriads of programmes initiated to empower citizens and enhance the economic development of the nation.

The apex bank made the observation during a two-day sensitization programme it organised for the general public, allaying the fears over over the reliability of Nigerian banks.

The Director, Corporate Communications Department of CBN, Ibrahim Mu’azu, who was represented by Babatunde Ogunlaja, in Akure, Ondo State, affirmed that the CBN policies are customer-centred.

He identified the high level exclusion rate of the women folk in the banking industry as a setback and therefore, urged women to join their male counterparts to avail themselves of the several opportunities provided by CBN.

According to him, the intent of the programme is to enlighten the public, particularly those in the state on the things the bank has been doing, products and services and initiatives available to the public.

“We want to educate and enlighten you on the things that we have that are not well patronised so that you can take the fullest advantages of those things,” he said.

He lamented that many people do not even know that Central Bank has piloted entrepreneurship development centres across the country to spur entrepreneurial spirit in young ones, stimulate start-ups with access to loans.

The bank official assured that the existing banks in the country are dependable and could stand the test of time, no matter any speculation and enjoined Nigerians to have confidence in their operations which is driven to serve the people better at all times.