The Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Ambassador Mariam Katagum, has assured Federal Government’s commitment to providing a conducive environment for women in business in the country.
The Minister gave this assurance in her keynote address at the virtual launch of the Ebi Market Place, the first indigenous E-Commerce Market place platform for women in Nigeria.
Katagum, in a statement by the ministry’s Assistant Director, Information, Mrs. Oluwakemi Ogunmakinwa, said the ministry was always supportive of home-grown innovations in Nigeria, especially those that are designed to support female entrepreneurs.
She explained that this was in furtherance of the ministry’s mandate to formulate policies that will help create wealth and employment, reduce poverty and ensure enhanced service delivery in a manner that would stimulate the growth of the domestic economy through industrialization, trade and investment.
The minister said: “Hence, the Ministry prioritizes the harnessing of available resources (human, financial and technical), to help strengthen the capacity of women, who form the backbone of any economy, to unleash their economic potentials, through the development of relevant policies and impactful programmes and activities.
“In addition, the Ministry and some of its parastatals, such as Bank of Industry (BOI), Industrial Training Fund (ITF),Small and Medium Enterprises Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN) and Nigeria Export Promotion Council (NEPC), have established functional Gender Desks, dedicated to supporting women entrepreneurs with training, credit facilities, capacity building most especially during the COVID-19 pandemic to provide relevant support for women owned businesses to stay afloat”, she added
Katagum expressed joy to be part of the laudable event especially that the Ebi Marketplace was designed to provide a tangible response to the impact of COVID-19 on female entrepreneurs, noting that “women were the vulnerable group, amongst others who were unable to migrate their businesses unto online platforms and for that reason many shut down”.
The minister further disclosed that the ministry, through the Bank of Industry, had been an institutional partner with the Ebi Marketplace, thereby giving the ministry a key role in supporting women in Nigeria’s economic development.
To actualize the goals of the platform, Katagum advocated the need for synergy, cooperation and collaboration amongst stakeholders in the E-Commerce ecosystem, including digitally operated businesses, particularly Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises in both domestic and cross border E-Commerce, in order to achieve enhanced participation of more female entrepreneurs,.
The minister urged business regulators in the country to build capacity so that stakeholders can understand how the e-commerce sector operates.
