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The need to empower women to become business leaders at home and in the society and give direction to the girl-child came into focus, as Advancing Women in Business (ADWIB), a women’s business group, in collaboration with Quantum Business School and Entrepreneurship Centre (QBS&EC) on Monday began a weeklong series of activities to mark this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD) on March 8.
On the first day (Monday), the mainly women business group undertook sensitisation visits to the popular Port Harcourt Mile 1 Market to reach out and empower the active poor women in the Port Harcourt metropolis.
ADWIB, with a passion to push up women as business leaders and managers in the society and at home, is acting on the theme of this year’s International Women’s Day (IWD), to “press for progress with a mission to empower the women for global impact; market visits and capacity building for micro-entrepreneurship.”
Josephine Itonyo, ADWIB president and founder, who is also the managing director of Quantum Business School and Entrepreneurship Centre, Port Harcourt, who spoke with BusinessDay on the side lines of their market rally, said they aim to build the capacities of the petty business women for micro-entrepreneurship as well as mentor other women in business and women at the FSP Centre, Port Harcourt, on simple book-keeping, sourcing funds, managing their business and customer service.
She said they were using the 2018 IWD theme of: “Press for Progress with Mission to Empower Women for Global Impact; Market visits and Capacity Building for Micro-entrepreneurs,” to reach out to largely active poor women in Rivers State, to help them inch up their business to make impact in the home and society.
“It is a known fact that women are the engine for any economic development. They contribute at least 40 percent to the world’s gross domestic product (GDP), yet they are the least rewarded in their entrepreneurial quest.
“We believe that this is due to their lack of capacity to take their businesses from ‘small enterprise’ to the corporate world. ADWIB provides a platform to build their capacities, equip them with the necessary tools and techniques that are needed to build strong and successful big corporations and to become an international brand,” said Itonyo.
At the Mile 1 Market, hundreds of women traders trooped out and embraced the ADWIB team, exclaiming they were excited at receiving vital business information that could assist them expand their businesses, thereby enabling them to take the lead in their businesses and train their children in school and other endeavours in life.
Meanwhile, there was also visits to small business owners among members of the ADWIB group on Tuesday, where Itonyo said, they aimed to find out areas of their accounting process, IT (Information Technology) setting, hands-on training; carry out onsite business reviews, to find out their areas of need; build their capacities, with a view to strengthening their system structures by putting in place the right system, processes and structures.
For the girl-children, the ADWIB women group has identified 50 of them aged 16-21 years, to give them a direction in life, mentor them on educational and life careers, as well as expose them on different skills they can train and engage in, even while still growing up, so as to evade being among the vulnerable groups in the society.
Advancing women in Business (ADWIB) is an initiative of the Quantum Business School (QBS) as its corporate socio economic responsibility to the society, and specifically in the development and empowerment of women in entrepreneurship in Nigeria. Established in 2006, ADWIB’s main objective is to help women entrepreneurs identify their skills and potentials that could be developed and deployed into economic development and nation building.
These are accomplished by creating awareness through various seminars/ workshops, and conferences where women entrepreneurs are taught, educated and exposed to new ideas and business opportunities; introduction to latest trends and innovation in the business world. The forum also creates an avenue to interact with other business owners, thereby building strong networks.
