The Executive Vice Chairman (EVC) of the Nigeria Communication Commission (NCC), Prof. Umar Danbatta, has stressed the need for digital training of women to uplift their socio-economic standards and bridge the gender gap among professionals in the country.
The telecom industry chief, who made this remark recently in Lagos at the maiden edition of the Women Entrepreneurs and Executives in Tech (WEET) event, pointed out that women empowerment through digital skills capacity training would go a long way to remove social and economic barriers in the society with the attendant positive multiplier effects on all spheres of the nation’s economy.
The WEET has the theme: “Future Tech Trends, Challenges and Opportunities For Women Entrepreneurs’’.
Represented at the forum by the NCC Director of New Media and Information Security, Mrs. Olatokunbo Oyeleye, the EVC explained that digital literacy had the potential of improving family incomes, trade and creates job opportunities for mothers.
Danbatta further stressed that investing and supporting the younger generations digital development remained critical to national development, especially since females face disproportionate social impediment.
He said: “This summit aims at inspiring women to take on entrepreneurship opportunities as well as leadership position in other to play active roles in the evolving digital economy.
“One must have a global focus in mind as it relates to entrepreneurship and playing active roles in this space. COVID 19 has interestingly brought up an avenue for women to embrace technology with new business and opportunities emerging.
“There has been a sudden surge in the demand for sanitizers, customized facemasks and shields, protective equipment and the need for online education and entertainment not to mention the surge in logistics and delivery business that has now become extremely a part of our lives”, the industry regulator added.
Noting that the pandemic launched and opened opportunities for entrepreneurs , especially women, Danbatta said that Nigerian women accounted for 41 percent ownership of micro businesses in Nigeria , with over 23 million female entrepreneurs making Nigeria amongst the countries with highest entrepreneurs globally.
He further clarified: “There is still insufficient real economic empowerment and inclusion of women across the real sector of the economy even as we begin to see a shift in the banking sector where 27 per cent of the CEO are females as at July 2021.
“The numbers can be higher and this can also happen across the real sectors of the economy, especially in Technology. This leaves us with the question, how do we change this narrative of insufficient real economic empowerment and inclusion for women across the real sectors of the economy?”, he queried.
The EVC said that in spite of the gender gap and social challenges, entrepreneurial women around the world were leading the way in harnessing the power of the digital economy to succeed and grow.
