With Nigeria’s 43.3% unemployment rate, the Development Bank of Nigeria has urged Nigerian women to further sharpen their entrepreneurial skills in order to reduce the rate of unemployment and poverty in the country.
According to the National Bureau of Statistics, women constitute over 50% of Nigeria’s population. While a recent report by the World Bank said Nigeria’s population has been increasing exponentially, with an estimated figure of 300 million by the year 2050.
Speaking at the 3rd edition of the Women In Leadership and Career Empowerment Programme (WILCEP) Africa, Managing Director of Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN), Mr. Tony Okpanachi, represented by the Business Development and Relationship Manager, Maryesther Ezeadi, emphasised that with Nigeria’s rapid population growth and the current rate of unemployment, over 90 million Nigerians will be unemployed by 2050.
“Nigeria women should see the numerous challenges in the country as opportunities to become entrepreneurs by providing solutions. According to the latest SMEDAN survey, there are 41 million MSMEs in Nigeria. If each of these businesses employs four people, it would totally wipe out unemployment in Nigeria. Our population as at the last count was put at 198.5 million by World Bank. So, it is the most simplistic way of showing the power of entrepreneurship in generating employment,” he said.
Women were also advised to persevere during challenging times in business, as the challenges faced in business provide an experience which should serve as a guide to subsequently help sustain the business. While building their business, women were also counseled to prioritize their health and wellbeing.
Commendably, statistics have shown that women benefited immensely from the DBN loan. At the end of 2018, women entrepreneurs accounted for 73% of the end-borrowers.
