Nigeria has one of the highest numbers of female entrepreneurs in the world, yet women-owned businesses do not secure procurement contracts, suggesting systematic gender disparities in the procurement systems of both government and private sector organisations. To address the gender disparity in accessing economic opportunities in Nigeria, women CEOs and relevant stakeholders have formed a coalition to advance women’s economic empowerment.
The coalition is focused on making life better for women and girls by pushing for improved implementation of economic policies that will enhance women’s access to public and private procurement as well as income generating opportunities. The consensus on the positive correlation between gender equality and the socio-economic environment of a country calls for incentives to ensure equal opportunities for women entrepreneurs and their male counterparts, for instance in the form of preferential treatment for marginalised groups when it comes to procurement of goods and services.
United Nations Women under auspices its project, Women’s Economic Empowerment through Affirmative Procurement Reform in West and Central Africa, with funding from African Development Bank and Women’s Entrepreneurs Finance Initiative (WeFi), is aimed at improving women’s economic empowerment through enhanced opportunities of women-led businesses to access public procurement and corporate supply chains.
In line with UN Women’s coordination mandate, and as part of project exit strategy, the coalition will work with existing state institutions to push for approval of the state policies, monitor government interventions and promote the economic rights of women entrepreneurs in the state. Also, the coalition would be expected to push for the domestication of available legal frameworks that support women’s economic empowerment in the state. The coalition will in turn serve as key connectors to government and businesses and help to create a strong enabling environment for civil society organizations, democracy, and the rights of citizen action and participation.
UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS, Beatrice Eyong, represented by Women’s Economic Empowerment Specialist for UN Women, Chukwuemeka Onyimadu, said, “According to the National Policy on Women’s Economic Empowerment, 30 percent of all public procurement opportunities should be reserved for women-owned and women-led businesses”. However, this has not been realised due to socio-economic challenges.
Leading women CEOs and representatives of women associations in the strategic meeting, the Director General of Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Fatai Onafowote, reiterates the states’ commitment to improving women’s access to public procurement.
