Accessing finance is a big challenge for most women entrepreneurs across Africa. It is for this reason that women entrepreneurs in Nigeria held interactive meetings with banks and financiers today, May 19th May 2011, to deliberate on opportunities available for women to easily access financing.
The Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA) organised two meetings in Lagos and Abuja through its Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW) platform which promotes entrepreneurship among women.
Among key speakers lined up during the fora were representatives from the National Economic Reconstruction Fund which offers medium and longterm financing to small and medium scale industrial enterprises, the bank Diamond Bank plc and the Bank of Industry, a bank that supports local and foreign entrepreneurs establish and expand industries by offering financing and business advisory services.
Riding on the theme Accessing Appropriate Funding for Women Entrepreneurs, the female entrepreneurs were taken through SME friendly financing options they can benefit from.
The organising body, NNEW, puts together networking sessions where female entrepreneurs hold discussions on issues affecting their growth in business and receive mentoring and other support services. The organisation helps its members formalise and expand their businesses, as well as become more competitive by offering advisory services on access to financing, book keeping and regulatory issues amongst other skills.
The organisation was established in 2005 by NECA, which is the umbrella organisation of employers in the organised private sector of Nigeria and acts as a link between Government and the private sector on issues surrounding labour policies.
The meeting aimed at fostering entrepreneurship and sustainability in the growth and excellence of female owned businesses which is an important contributing factor to the Nigerian economy and its growth as a whole.
