She was born in Kano and attended St. Louis Private School and St. Louis Secondary School. “There is no St. Louis University, I’m sure I would have attended the university too,” she teases. “I did my ‘A’ Levels in School of Preliminary Studies, Kano, and then to Bayero University Kano where I graduated with a BA in Hausa/Sociology. I served in Bauchi College of Arts and Science Bauchi State.”
Growing up for her was indeed a lot of fun, as she recounts. Born in a family where everyone studies and works hard to achieve great heights, it was only normal for her to follow suit. Her dad always encouraged her to be focused and know that she can be whatever she desires to be. “You can’t help but fall in love with my father once you meet him,” she tells me frankly. “Very supportive and optimistic about my dreams.”
Though she married early, she recounts that her first job was with Adult and Non-Formal Education Agency as the sectional head, Literacy, in Bauchi State. When she moved to Edo State with her family, she was employed by Nigerian Bottling Company as the liaison officer for Agenebode Farms. The rest, they say, is history because today, she is CEO of Anza Ventures, producers of Anza Table Water and Anza Foods; vice chairman, Women Development, Nigerian Association of Small Scale Industrialists (NASSI), Kano State chapter; zonal coordinator, Association of Table Water Producers, Kano State chapter; and coordinator, Wee Group under Gems3. She also won the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) award of excellence as the best small/medium entrepreneur under small business model category for the year 2011. Zainab Sani Ahmed is my Leading Woman for this week.
“While still in Benin,” Zainab says about her days of little beginnings, “I gave birth to two beautiful children. I also acquired diploma certificates in catering and another in fashion and design. By 1993 when I moved to Kaduna, I felt it was time to stay at home with the kids and venture into business. I began as a Coca Cola dealer with more than 1,000 crates. At the same time I also found children’s clothing as an area of interest, although that wasn’t much of a success. I feel that the success of my Coca Cola dealership was what encouraged me most.
“As the years passed by, travelling and living in other states of the federation such as Imo, Lagos and many others further exposed me towards a brighter future. I am proud to say that I’m a true Nigerian. Thanks be to God, hard work and determination of the staff and myself, my business is where it is today.”
As vice chairman, Women Development, NASSI, Zainab speaks of her duties. “It is an association of small scale industrialists both men and women,” she begins. “Self-reliance and employment is our goal. As the chairperson of women development section, I deal directly with the women. So far, we have registered almost a thousand women in the association. We have been able to empower them with loans from Jaiz Bank, from our own products and also trained them on how to grow their business. Our women are learning to improve themselves, their business, standard of living and we encourage them to believe in themselves and not be limited by anything. There is always room for interaction where they share and learn ideas from others.”
What then does she do as coordinator of Wee Group? “Wee Group is an empowerment group for women,” she reveals. “Members include women from different trade groups and organisations. We know ourselves, rub minds, share ideas, united by same vision and goal so as to move forward in our businesses. We also empower our women at the grassroots and I’m happy that it has given me the ability to reach out to women at large and as such, giving back to my community. The challenges are there but we are breaking barriers and I know that the sky will not even be a limit.”
Sharing on how the CBN award of excellence has influenced her positively, Zainab says: “The award indeed brought joy to my heart. As a producer and a woman in business I bank with Women Development Micro Finance Bank (WDFB) along with other commercial banks. Most of CBN women programmes come through such financial institutions. Criteria for the competition included banking with WDMFB with a loan that I used and benefitted from. My award was as a result of a full-fledged factory in production, staff strength and complete record which includes book keeping, staff records, production and more.
“The award was an eye opener for me and it came with so many opportunities. I have learnt that keeping record is very vital because it shows how serious you are when it comes to details and it has helped me improve even better. I mentor other women and encourage them in their businesses but I ensure that I teach them accountability which will always stand you out even in the crowd.”
On her challenges in mentoring women, Zainab says: “Bringing the women together to actually express themselves could be challenging because some do not really understand the importance of networking. There is also the challenge of lack of funds to empower them and their inability to access loans. There are women who can’t read or write even in Hausa language. Such women obviously can’t participate in programmes like YouWin and so on, except they get someone to help them fill the forms. The overall challenge is that of gender issues which I pray will come to an end sometime soon.
“There is also the scenario where most women feel that because they have husbands or someone to cater for their needs no matter how little, they see no reason to try on their own. To gain confidence and respect, it is good to have a source of income no matter how small, at least to have something doing is better than to stay idle. This and more are what I teach about.”
Harping on the need for women to understand the importance of empowerment, she says: “You need to be empowered so you can empower others and empower even our children who are the leaders of tomorrow so we can have an empowered country.”
