The Federal Government in collaboration with the Economic Community for West African States (ECOWAS) is determined to reach 50 million women financially.
The project, which equally has the African Development Bank (AFDB), Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC) as collaborators, aims at reaching the number of women in Africa through a dynamic platform via mobile app.
This is intended at improving their access to financial and non-financial information through the use of information communication.
The FG, through the Director, Economic Development, Federal Ministry of Women Affairs, Alhaji Idris Muhammed, said the project is through the 50 Million African Women Speak Platform Project (50MAWSP).
Muhammed said this in Abuja at a one-day validation meeting of the technical working group on Women Economic Empowerment (WEE) programmes in Nigeria organised by National Institute for Policy and Strategic Studies (NIPSS), Ministry of Finance and attended by Ministries, Departments and Agencies (MDA’s), Civil Society Organisations (CSO’s) and donors.
Muhammed, who was represented by the Assistant Director, Social Welfare of the ministry, Emilia Oti, said, “I am delighted to inform you of the achievements of the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs through the 50 Million African Women Speak Platform Project (50MAWSP).
“The platform is a collaborative initiative of the FMWA, ECOWAS, African Development Bank, Common Market for Eastern and Southern Ainica (COMESA) and East African Community (EAC) aimed at reaching 50 million African women through a dynamic platform via mobile App and web with the goal of improving their access to financial and non-financial information through the use of Information communication.”
The validation meeting was organised by the NIPlSS, in collaboration with the Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning and supported by the Development Research and Projects Centre (DRPC) under the Partnership for Advancing Women in Economic Development and funded by the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation.
In his remark, the Director, Monitoring and Evaluation, Federal Ministry of Finance, Budget and National Planning, Dr Zakari Lawal, said FG has prioritised women empowerment in its Medium-Term National Development Plan.
He said, “Every country produces a plan that guides its operations for a certain period and it entails the major policy objective that it wants to achieve and the detailed project it intends to achieve in the MDA’s. In line with that, the government put in place the Medium-Term National Development Plan which covers its operations within the period of 2021-2025.”