The Development Bank of Nigeria (DBN) disclosed that it had disbursed more than N98 billion to female entrepreneurs in Nigeria as at February 2022.
The bank’s Managing Director, Mr. Tony Okpanachi, made this disclosure in Abuja when the bank marked the International Women’s Day 2022.
He pointed out “gender equity is crucial to meeting development goals, reducing human suffering, and solving our biggest environmental problems.
“Women across the world continue to suffer from gender inequality, including child labour, forced marriages, gender-based violence, sexist policies, as well as barriers to participation in education and employment”,Okpanachi added.
According to the banker, today the stereotypes and biases that women have to contend with include “women can’t be leaders; women are irrational; women can’t handle huge responsibilities and many more”.
Okpanachi stressed that for a society to make progress, “we must challenge these preconceived notions”, adding that as part of the bank’s commitment to mitigate these biases, Okpanachi said he led “a team that is deliberately breaking these biases”.
He said the initiative “is anchored on the appreciation and recognition of the strategic role women play as reliable builders of micro, small, and medium scale enterprises, a segment we are mandated to provide funding to”.
Okpanachi further stressed that “it is admirable that we are now challenging these biases, especially in the workplace; we must also be aware of the unintended consequence of this new level of openness and embrace it with optimism instead of fear”.
