Remarks by Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, at the 4th Kaduna Women Economic Empowerment Summit, held at the Umaru Yar’Adua Hall, Kaduna,  

Remarks by Dr Hadiza Sabuwa Balarabe, Deputy Governor of Kaduna State, at the 4th Kaduna Women Economic Empowerment Summit, held at the Umaru Yar’Adua Hall, Kaduna, on Wednesday, 30th October 2019. 

PROTOCOLS 

1. It is a great pleasure to be part of the 4th Kaduna State Women Economic Empowerment Summit. I would like to seize this opportunity to acknowledge the consistent work of Malam Nasir El-Rufai to improve the status of women and enhance their participation in governance and leadership.
2. YE, you have shown us that it has gone beyond just ’us’ women talking and listening to ourselves, by going ahead to provide us with the wherewithal to do much more and showing us that the way to economic empowerment is through education. The 12 years of free education you have provided for girls is a testament to that. Distinguished guests, Governor Nasir el-Rufai’s pro-women policies and programs are in line with the spirit and manifesto of the APC. His record in gender inclusion has been unparalleled in the State. In fact, there are more women commissioners, more women heading agencies and more women at the top echelon of government than at any time in the history of the state.
3. Distinguished guests, the key to sustainable development emphasises investing in women and girls as has been done by this Administration. Therefore continuing the exploration of new opportunities to advance women’s status in the economy and assessing the ground realities they face locally is at the core of this administration. “Research claims that engaging more women in governance will increase productivity by as much as 25 percent. It therefore means that when Governments exclude women from the paid workforce, from entrepreneurial opportunities and political participation, it is only wilfully short-changing itself. 
4. However, this Government has proven to be different by lifting that 25% and providing opportunities and i am blessed to say that like many of you here today, I’m also a beneficiary of the Governor’s magnanimity to the women of Kaduna State. YE, We, the women of this great state are immensely grateful for this enlightened approach. 
5. The Kaduna State Government has demonstrated that a society is at its best when it embraces everyone in its quest for progress and development. It therefore means that both Government and society have a duty to empower women and remove any barrier to their inclusive participation. Doing this will enable our society benefit from the hitherto hidden talents and energies of half of the population that is often neglected and ignored.
6. As we pursue inclusive development, we are obliged to listen to women, to work with women, support women, and also insist that they be included and allowed to sit at the table, to contribute to the evolution and development of public policies while also participating most actively in their implementation. We all have a duty to give women opportunities, give them meaningful access to politics and support their capacities and abilities to productively participate in the economy.
7. This is the very reason why the state government initiated the Kaduna State Women Empowerment Fund (KADSWEF), an idea that was painstakingly developed and initiated in collaboration with willing partners to create a soft loan arrangement enabling ease of access, to genuine women cooperatives and potent individual women entrepreneurs across the length and breadth of Kaduna State.
8. KADSWEF enhances women’s access to low interest funds. It helps to channel funds to the MSME sub-sector of the state’s economy through women cooperatives and clusters. In addition, it seeks to increase productivity and the output of women micro enterprises, empower them financially and boost employment. The fund aims to provide more women with entrepreneurial skills, business development, management and financial literacy.
9. KADSWEF also seeks to bring the disadvantaged groups, mostly poor women in the informal sector, into a more organised setting and empower them to manage themselves. All these are part of efforts to break the vicious circle of low income, low savings, low investments and replacing it with a circle of credit injection and investments with more income, more savings and continuous re-investments. 
10. Esteemed invited guests, by empowering women, KADSWEF is helping to improve the living conditions of many families in the state. I make bold to say, Ladies and gentlemen that judging by the testimonies taken earlier, KADSWEF has achieved a lot. Apart from empowering women, the programme has improved the local economy of the state and added value to financial institutions. It has also increased the financial inclusion index of the state as the beneficiaries were made to open bank accounts in order to benefit from the scheme. It is gladdening to note that, KADSWEF beneficiaries have opened 14,000 new bank accounts across the three senatorial districts of the state. 
11. We are proud of the tremendous impact KADSWEF is having on the lives of the people of Kaduna State. From the evaluations made so far, N200m has so far been disbursed and to the beneficiaries and these beneficiaries have since commenced repayment. We are looking forward to doing more than we have done in the recent past.
12. The Kaduna State government under the leadership of Mallam Nasir El-Rufaiiam positive will continue to support programmes aimed at empowering women and the most vulnerable in our society. We have made a commitment to increase in an exponential manner, the amount that can be disbursed through KADSWEF. We have a commitment to uplift as many families as possible out of poverty through various these interventions. 
13. The state government is also working with partners to expand training and empowerment opportunities for women. Last year, the Kaduna State Government worked with a Belgium-based Non-Governmental Organization, Digital African Woman (DAW) to train a number of women in Digital Business. After the training, the Networking and Exhibition Session gave the trainees an opportunity to display their products and pitch to interested investors, partners and clients. We are proud to say that they were trained and well too and they did not disappoint us. Many thanks to ‘Click on Kaduna’ and ‘DigitalNaija’.
14. I urge all the participants at this Summit, most especially the beneficiaries of KADSWEF, to seize this opportunity to make the best out of it. You have been selected out of hundreds of thousands women, you cannot afford to fail in this regard. We are looking forward to seeing your businesses blossom, where you can also be employers of labour. 
15. The Ministry of Human Services and Social Development will continue to work closely with all the beneficiaries, to support and encourage you morally, financially and otherwise to succeed in your various businesses. We are proud of the first beneficiaries of KADSWEF because most of them have been well established and have already started repayment.
16. Let’s continue to work together towards uplifting the living standards of women in the state by supporting them to become self-reliant.
17. As beneficiaries of this enlightened policy and disposition of Malam Nasir El-Rufai, it is incumbent on us to reciprocate by helping to promote equality of opportunity and giving everyone a fair chance in life.
18. I wish us all a successful Summit, and thank you for listening.