Shecluded, a financial wellness company has called on the government and other stakeholders to give women access to finance, noting that inclusion is still a big challenge for most women owned businesses in the country.
Its Vice President Partnerships, Farida Yahya, made the call during Shecluded’s International Women’s Day (IWD) 2023 Community Meet in Abuja held with the theme “DigitALL: Innovation and technology for gender equality” with hastag #EmbraceEquity.
Yahya while noting the importance of economic empowerment of women in the society, she stated that they need to be supported to own their voice so as to contribute to issues affecting them, rather than someone else making decisions for them.
“Before women didn’t understand things like interest rates and couldnt walk into a bank and have a conversation to discuss what they can get or have access to, but that has changed because the financial institutions themselves are creating gender desks and there is a lot of social consciousness on how your business can impact your community,” she explained.
“We at Shecluded create the space for women to meet and discuss where it pinches them and how we can support them to create financial space because we believe we can achieve more together.
“You can only help people when you understand what they need also we are using the opportunity to celebrate what we have achieved as women so far and to encourage more women to join our community,” she said.
Earlier, the CEO of Agro Link Care Linda Ekweogu, while speaking on the theme of the year’s celebration, noted that men dominate the tech world.
She called for support and encouragement for women and girls to embrace technology.
On her part, Sterling bank representative Adedamola Daramola, said women do not have access to information they need for them to perform better in the society, disclosing that there are funds available for women but most of them don’t go to assess it.
On her part, the CEO of Abuja Mums Vendor List Directory Shayo Aladesanmi, stressed the benefits of celebrating women while also calling for their inclusion in politics and other leadership roles to enable them contribute to development.
