The Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, in collaboration with the United Nations Women, has organised a training and empowerment programme for women-owned businesses to enable them to benefit from public procurement opportunities in the state.
Speaking at the opening ceremony of the three-day training on Thursday, the Director-General, Lagos State Public Procurement Agency, Mr Fatai Onafowote, noted that a larger percentage of women are economically disadvantaged, particularly in public procurement opportunities, despite their population in business.
Describing the situation as “unhealthy for societal stability,” Onafowote said this informed the state government’s policy to encourage and support women and youth to acquire skills and vocations which would allow them to compete favourably for access to business opportunities in the state.
He added that in collaboration with the UN, the agency had “organised sensitisation and training programmes for accounting officers of ministries, departments and agencies, procurement specialists and women-owned businesses with a view to ensuring the economic empowerment of women-owned businesses through opportunities in public procurement in the state.”
The Director-General also identified some of the challenges facing women-owned businesses to include lack of access to capital, sexual harassment, some negative cultural practices and norms, and lack of information, among others.
Also speaking, the UN Women Deputy Country Representative, Mr Lansana Wonneh, noted that enhanced access to participate in and benefit from public procurement provides an economically viable option for advancing economic opportunities and strengthening the resilience of women-owned and women-led businesses post COVID-19 recovery.
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