The Development Bank of Nigeria disbursed over N98bn to support female entrepreneurs in the country as of February 2022.
The Managing Director of the bank, Tony Okpanachi, made this known in Abuja when the bank celebrated International Women’s Day.
Okpanachi stated that gender equity is crucial to meeting development goals, reducing human suffering, and solving our biggest environmental problems.
Women across the world, he said “continue to suffer from gender inequality, including child labour, forced marriages, gender-based violence, sexist policies, as well as barriers to participation in education and employment.”
As MD of the bank, he said he has led a team that is deliberately breaking the bias faced by women.
This, he said, “is anchored on the appreciation and recognition of the strategic role women play as reliable builders of micro, small, and medium scale enterprises, a segment we are mandated to provide funding to.
“It is admirable that we are now challenging these biases, especially in the workplace; we must also be aware of the unintended consequence of this new level of openness and embrace it with optimism instead of fear.”
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