Economic Empowerment
Women entrepreneurs in Nigeria would soon start accessing facilities from deposit money banks at single digit interest rate, the Central Bank governor Mallam Sanusi Lamido Sanusi has said.
The CBN governor disclosed this in while speaking at the second edition of the public policy dialogue of the Murtala Mohammed Foundation.
According to him, the decision to deliberately empower more women in the economy was taken at the last Bankers Committee meeting held in Lagos with all the banks agreeing.
He said this is in recognition of women invaluable role in creating wealth and the low risks associated with lending to women compared to men adding that though women are more in population in Nigeria, they are the most poor.
Sanusi who said 2012 is the year for women economic empowerment noted that under the new thinking, a fund would be set up this year where the women could draw the soft loans from.
He also announced other far reaching measures aimed at empowering women in the banking sector.
Some of the measures according to him include; between now and 2014, 40 percent of the top management positions in banks should be held by women and at least 30 percent of banks' board members should be women.
Sanusi who spoke on the theme, 'towards a financial system stability: policy reforms in the banking sector' also decried the high poverty rate in Nigeria in spite OF economic growth of 7 percent.
He attributed the high poverty rate to lack of growth in the micro economic sector and collapse of infrastructure.
The CBN governor thus tasked banks to focus on lending to agriculture and manufacturing adding that it was unacceptable that Nigeria spends N150 billion annually to import 5 years old rice from India.
Sanusi noted that if Nigeria can solve the issue of power, agriculture and transport infrastructure, Nigeria would grow phenomenally.
He also noted that the reforms in the payment system is yielding results and Nigeria would be the better for it in the long run as when the bank's cost of doing business goes down, the cost of lending would also reduce.