The National President of NECA Network of Entrepreneurial Women, Funmilayo Arowoogun, has called for increased support for market women in Lagos State.
She spoke at the NNEW and Market leaders dialogue event in Lagos, which was attended my female market leaders and other stakeholders.
Arowoogun said, “The reason why we came is to look at how we are going to make the project which we have, Actionaid Nigeria, which is under the global action Canada project on the ‘Women voice and leadership’, in building the capacity of market women in Lagos state continuous.
“This project started about 12 years ago and we have gone round all the markets in Lagos State, training all of them on financial costing, and how to make their market, businesses sustainable and be able to better themselves.
“Over the past years, we have taught them about taxation, the reasons why they need to pay taxes and the taxes to pay.”
She said it had also been speaking against gender based violence in Lagos state as the project was coming to an end.
Arowoogun said it planned how it could build a sustainable business on this going forward, so that the project would not end at the tenure of the project.
“We called the market leaders in Lagos State and other government agencies on how to move forward,” she said.
The Iyaloja of Mile 12 Market, Dupe Ojo, while advocating support for market women, said, “We need funding. We can have a revolving loan, not the type we used to have before, so that with government’s intervention, it will go round everybody; not grant, but loans that will go round because the problem women in the market have is funding.”
The Project Coordinator, Niyi Adeyanju, said, over the years, NNEW had developed the capacity of over 300 women petty traders in four local government areas of Lagos State.
