Funlola Abdulsamad’s first-hand knowledge of how women entrepreneurs could access financial support and other services came in the form of a humiliating episode at Odo Ori market in Iwo, Osun State, in 2017.
A trader who allegedly defaulted in the payment of her microsavings loan was forced to dance around the market with plastic and other filthy materials hung around her neck. The woman, Ms Abdulsamad told PREMIUM TIMES, was thereafter taken to Feesu bus terminus and other strategic parts of Iwo town by officials of the microfinance bank that lent her money.
“It was a most embarrassing and terrifying moment for even me,” Ms Abdulsamad said of the memorable occasion in an interview with this newspaper, her voice a mélange of fear and irritation.
“Although it didn’t happen to me, I thought about it and concluded that I was never going to be a part of any such [financial services] support system. I can’t imagine going through such humiliation. It was very embarrassing.”
Ms Abdulsamad sells fruits and other agricultural produce at Oluwo Market on the outskirts of Iwo town. Everyday, she displays her produce on the edges of the Ibadan-Osogbo Expressway. With an entire stock valued at less than N10,000. She admitted that she could expand her business and rent a shop if she received the right financial support. But despite her financial challenges, she vowed never to seek support from the numerous organisations offering microsavings and other financial products and services to women entrepreneurs and traders in and around Iwo town.
“They have no respect for privacy,” she said. “They can humiliate you anywhere at any time. They don’t care if you really don’t want other people to know about your businesses or financial status and challenges.”
Adijatu Kareem, a trader at Odo Ori market in Iwo, told PREMIUM TIMES how “public” the application process could be for prospective loan applicants, thus exposing them to the “prying eyes of the entire market.” Mrs Kareem, who resides in Papa, a village on the outskirts of Iwo, explained that in their efforts to conduct due diligence, officials of financial service providers often expose applicants’ data and pay less attention to privacy.
“Before you have access to a loan or open an account, they will have to conduct an ‘inspection’ on your shop or kiosk,” she began. “That way, they take pictures and do a valuation of your goods. They do this publicly and it attracts the attention of everyone in the market to your shop. Many of us don’t like this at all.”
The trader added that many women in the market have chosen not to be part of any formal credit service because of this privacy concern.
Financial Inclusion
In October 2012, Nigeria launched its National Financial Inclusion Strategy with the overall target of reducing the adult financial exclusion rate from 46.3% in 2010 to 20% by 2020. Central to these goals are a strong network of financial access points such as commercial bank branches, microfinance bank branches, Automated Teller Machines (ATMs), Point-of-ofSales (POS) terminals, agent banking outlets and mobile money agents.
In January 2019, the strategy was modified and it identified five of the most excluded demographics: women; youth; micro, small and medium enterprises (MSMEs); rural dwellers; and individuals living in the country’s northern regions.
At the heart of conversations around financial inclusion are issues of women entrepreneurship and access to and use of financial products and services in relation to how they affect job creation, economic growth and women empowerment.
According to a 2018 survey by Enhancing Financial Innovation and Access (EFInA), financial inclusion nationwide stood at 59.1 percent for women compared with 67.5 percent for men, a gender gap of 8.4 percent. Although this represented a slight improvement from a gap of 9.8 percent recorded in 2016, it was still considered poor.
Working in collaboration with its Financial Inclusion Secretariat (FIS), the Central Bank of Nigeria has designed policies and partnership programmes targeted at women. Examples of such initiatives is the establishment of the MSME Development Fund (MSMEDF), a NGN220 billion (approximately USD 717 million) intervention fund set up by CBN that takes into consideration the unique challenges faced by women in accessing credit with 60 percent of funds (NGN132 billion, or roughly USD 430 million) earmarked for women. There is also the National Financial Inclusion Special Interventions Working Group (NFISIWG).
Women Still Vulnerable
Despite the various interventions by government and other stakeholders in the private sector, women are still largely excluded from the financial service ecosystem. Over 1 billion women still do not use or have access to the financial system, according to the World Bank Group’s Global Findex report.
The International Finance Corporation (IFC) has estimated that globally, a $300 billion gap in financing exists for formal, women-owned small businesses, and more than 70 percent of women-owned small and medium enterprises have inadequate or no access to financial services.
Iya Sodiki, a trader at Ile-Ogbo community in Ayedire Local Government Area of Osun State, told this newspaper that she does not own any bank account nor does she know of anyone around her who owns an account. According to her, access to financial services can be cumbersome and tedious, hence their nonchalant attitude to financial inclusion.
