Financial independence is the status of having sufficient income to meet one’s needs without being dependent on others. While savings and good investment habits are crucial to maximising one’s finances, there are external factors that limit a woman from attaining financial independence.
If Nigeria is to reach its economic potential, women must be empowered and actively involved in development processes. In this article, we’re sharing seven ways to help Nigerian women become financially independent so they can fulfil and maximise their life goals.
1.Challenge gender stereotypes in childhood: Gender awareness should begin in early childhood education and continue through life. It’s essential to change people’s mindset about roles that are “traditionally” for women such as “unpaid care” to create a more tolerant and fair society.
2. Businesses should adopt inclusive hiring processes: We need to raise awareness in our workplaces about women’s potentials. This includes women in the informal sector who are often forgotten in development propositions. Employers should look beyond a CV and focus on the skills both men and women have. This will encourage more inclusive hiring practices.
3. Grant women access to capital: According to a PWC survey in 2020, women in Nigeria hold 41% of micro-enterprises. This translates to over 23 million women working in this sector making Nigeria one of the countries with the highest number of female entrepreneurs in the world.
In spite of the key role women play in the economy, they still have a hard time accessing capital than their male counterparts. Capital here refers to financial resources, training, assets (such as land rights, collaterals), technology, and networks.
Research has revealed the complexities in loan arrangements, lack of collaterals and the fact that women are not viewed as high-interest groups by traditional financial institutions have festered the gender financing gap in business. We need to change our perception that women are not adequately equipped to manage businesses. We should also adopt a holistic approach to supporting women-owned businesses.
For example, providing cash to women is insufficient; additional training is required so that they can effectively utilize these resources. HerVest, Nigeria’s first female-focused inclusive digital platform, adopts this holistic approach in addressing the inefficiencies in the Nigerian agricultural value chain. Through its gender lens strategy, HerVest provides female farmers in Northern and Southern Nigeria with credit facilities, training and markets to improve their livelihoods.
4. Gender policies must walk the talk: While it’s essential to create policies that promote economic gender equality, we need to adequately enforce existing policies to achieve real progress. Government and corporations must move beyond mere tokenism for public favour to genuinely walk the talk.
5. Engage the informal sector: The informal economy in Nigeria is projected to be worth $48.2bn, yet its activities are devalued in economic planning. If we are to significantly reduce poverty and unemployment in Nigeria, informal workers must be actively engaged as valuable economic agents.
6. A shift in negative self-perception: A study by the IMF in 2020 revealed African women to be collaborators in the gender financing gap due to a self-perception of “credit-unworthiness”. The study showed that women were more likely to “self-select” out of the credit market due to an undervalued sense of creditworthiness. It revealed that even in the absence of discriminatory practices, women did not apply for loans because they felt their loans will be denied.
To deal with this behaviour, women need to improve their financial literacy. They should acquire the skills and tools that will support them in managing and maximising their financial resources. They should be determined to pursue goals notwithstanding external and internal obstacles.
7. Leverage emergencies as an opportunity: The Covid-19 pandemic exposed and sharpened existing gender inequalities; disproportionately affecting women because of their large presence in informal sectors.
While this may appear to be a crisis, it can also be used to fully address the socio-economic difficulties that women face. Domestic violence against women, rape, sexual assault, child marriage, underemployment, and unemployment can all be addressed by constructing environmentally and socially sensitive models that ensure the entire population, not just a privileged few, benefit from economic progress.
