Promoting Gender Equality and Formalization through Women's Entrepreneurship Development in Nigeria

The proportion of women involved in entrepreneurship in Nigeria exceeds that of men, however the country ranks 139th on the Gender Gap Index for 2020. While women entrepreneurs contribute to economic growth, job creation, and family and community wellbeing, they experience decent work deficits related to business and regulatory environment and access to financial and business development services. As many remain informal, they are often outside the scope of policies and programmes to support small and medium-sized enterprises (SME). In addition, they are under-represented and underserved by employers’ and workers’ organizations. This gloomy situation has been exacerbated by the COVID-19 pandemic. This intervention provides technical assistance to relevant stakeholders in the business ecosystem to support women’s economic empowerment, gender equality and formalization through entrepreneurship development, targeting especially those in the informal economy. The expected results includes the revision of SME policies and strategies to ensure that barriers to women entrepreneurship are eliminated. In addition, about 250 females in Rivers and Lagos States will be directly supported to formalize their enterprises, contributing to women empowerment. The intervention is implemented in collaboration with Nigeria Employers Consultative Association (NECA), Nigeria Labour Congress (NLC), Federal Ministry of Labour and Employment, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, and Small and Medium Enterprises Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN).

Project symbol

NGA/21/01/RBS

Admin unit

CO-Abuja

Start date

01/08/2021

End date

29/02/2024

Total allocation

479662

Total expenditure

Status

Closed

479662

Development Partners

Core voluntary funds (RBSA)

Country/Countries

Nigeria

Outcomes

Outcome 2: Strong, representative and influential tripartite constituents and effective social dialogue
Outcome 4: Sustainable enterprises for inclusive growth and decent work
Outcome 5: Gender equality and equality of treatment and opportunities for all