{"id":11707,"date":"2016-03-09T16:13:51","date_gmt":"2016-03-09T16:13:51","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/ng\/?p=2474"},"modified":"2016-03-09T16:13:51","modified_gmt":"2016-03-09T16:13:51","slug":"financial-empowerment-for-nigerian-womentony-blairs-wife-cherie-foundation-for-women-exxonmobil-foundation-partner-assist-women-business-owners-for-literacy-skillssays-we-will-empowe","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/financial-empowerment-for-nigerian-womentony-blairs-wife-cherie-foundation-for-women-exxonmobil-foundation-partner-assist-women-business-owners-for-literacy-skillssays-we-will-empowe\/","title":{"rendered":"FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FOR NIGERIAN WOMEN:Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie Foundation for Women, ExxonMobil Foundation Partner…Assist Women Business Owners for Literacy Skills*Says: \u201cWe will Empower Women Entrepreneurs to Grow their Businesses\u201d*Explain: \u201cWe will Help them in building Management & Literary Financial Skills\u201d*Confesses: \u201c 500 Women Small Business owners have received Training\u201d*FACT: ExxonMobil invested over $100 million to Help Community-based and Global Partner Implement Programs through Women\u2019s Economic Opportunity Initiative"},"content":{"rendered":"

FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FOR NIGERIAN WOMEN:<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie Foundation for Women, ExxonMobil Foundation Partner<\/b><\/span>…Assist Women Business Owners for Literacy Skills<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

*Says: \u201cWe will Empower Women Entrepreneurs to Grow their Businesses\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

*Explain: \u201cWe will Help them in building Management & Literary Financial Skills\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

*Confesses: \u201c 500 Women Small Business owners have received Training\u201d<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

*FACT: ExxonMobil invested over $100 million to Help Community-based and Global Partner Implement Programs through Women\u2019s Economic Opportunity Initiative<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\"Cherie<\/a>BY LAURETTA JAPHET SUNDAY\/REPORTER<\/i>, LAGOS<\/b><\/span><\/span><\/p>\n

AS Women and Girl-Child were celebrated on March 8, 2016 marking the International Women’s Day, an empowerment platform which had been existence by joint collaboration between Cherie Blair Foundation and ExxonMobil Foundation partnership in Nigeria further expanded its platform to accommodate more Nigerian women business owners to break-free from the clog of poverty, in a bid to have their own financial independence.<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Making this known in a message titled: ‘Road to Women\u2019s Business Growth’ showcased at a special event hosted by Cherie Blair on International Women\u2019s Day celebrated an innovative new initiative to empower women entrepreneurs to grow their businesses. It was developed with the support of the ExxonMobil Foundation, the Road to Women\u2019s Business Growth project aims to inspire women owners of small businesses in Nigeria by building their management and financial literacy skills.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

According to the organizers, \u201cWomen entrepreneurs worldwide face significant barriers to accessing financial services. Research shows that women-owned entities represent more than 30 percent of<\/span><\/p>\n

registered businesses globally, but only 10 percent of women entrepreneurs have access to the capital needed to grow their businesses(1). In Nigeria, there is a persistent gender gap in financial inclusion, with only 34 percent of women having access to a bank account versus 54 percent of men(2).<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe Road to Women\u2019s Business Growth initiative aims to address this gap by building the business management and financial literacy skills of women entrepreneurs, empowering them with the knowledge and tools they need to grow profitable and sustainable businesses. The project is implemented in collaboration with the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan-Atlantic University, Diamond Bank and Emerging360.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

\u201cThe initiative kicked off at the end of 2015 in Lagos, Abuja and Uyo. To date, 500 women small business owners have received training in business management and financial literacy. The custom-built curriculum, which combines in-class instruction and online learning, is specifically designed to meet the needs of women owners of small businesses in Nigeria. Over the next six months, the women entrepreneurs will continue to receive support to build their businesses, with 100 of them receiving<\/span><\/p>\n

more intensive business support, including workshops, mentoring, and linkages to financial services, investment, and markets.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Road to Women\u2019s Business Growth initiative was celebrated today at a special event to mark International Women\u2019s Day at the Enterprise Development Centre of Pan-Atlantic University in Lagos. Cherie Blair, founder of the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women and wife of the former British Prime Minister Tony Blair, said, \u201cWomen entrepreneurs play a powerful role in their societies and economies, often succeeding against huge odds. My Foundation is committed to supporting women in<\/span><\/p>\n

developing and emerging markets to access the skills, networks, technology and financial services they need to establish and grow successful businesses. Our Road to Women\u2019s Business Growth initiative will empower Nigerian women entrepreneurs to unlock the skills and tools they need to drive growth in<\/span><\/p>\n

their businesses and communities.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Highpoint of the ceremony was a huge attendance witnessed by Government officials, community leaders and women entrepreneurs. Approximately 250 women business owners participating in the program were also present, and celebrated completing the first phase of training in an afternoon<\/span><\/p>\n

graduation ceremony with their families.<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

Nolan O\u2019Neal, chairman and managing director of ExxonMobil Upstream Nigeria, was also present for the celebration and spoke about the company\u2019s commitment to help women fulfill their economic potential. \u201cResearch shows that expanding economic opportunities for women is integral to global development and broader economic progress,\u201d he said. \u201cToday less than 35 percent of women in Nigeria have access to a bank account and many lack the capital needed to grow their businesses. This<\/span><\/p>\n

initiative takes an important step toward increasing financial literacy and access for women business owners.\u201d<\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

The Cherie Blair Foundation for Women (<\/span><\/span>http:\/\/www.CherieBlairFoundation.org<\/span><\/span><\/a>) <\/span><\/span>provides women entrepreneurs in developing and emerging markets with the skills, technology, networks and access to financial services that they need to become successful small and growing business owners, so that they can contribute to their economies and have a stronger voice in their societies. Working in partnership with local and international non-profit organizations, the private and public sector, the Cherie Blair Foundation for Women develops projects with sustainable solutions to the challenges women entrepreneurs face through three programmes: Enterprise Development, Mentoring and Mobile Technology. To read more about the Foundation\u2019s projects in Rwanda, Sierra Leone and Tanzania please visit: www.CherieBlairFoundation.org. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

About the ExxonMobil Foundation<\/b><\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n

For more than a decade, ExxonMobil has invested in programs that advance economic opportunities for women around the world. In 2005, the ExxonMobil Foundation launched the Women\u2019s Economic Opportunity Initiative (WEOI) to help women fulfill their economic potential and drive economic and social change in their communities. To date, ExxonMobil has invested more than $100 million to help community-based and global partner implement programs, improving the lives of tens of thousands of women in more than 90 countries. <\/span><\/p>\n

 <\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

FINANCIAL EMPOWERMENT FOR NIGERIAN WOMEN: Tony Blair’s wife, Cherie Foundation for Women, ExxonMobil Foundation Partner…Assist Women Business Owners for Literacy Skills *Says: \u201cWe will Empower Women Entrepreneurs to Grow their Businesses\u201d *Explain: \u201cWe will Help them in building Management & Literary Financial Skills\u201d *Confesses: \u201c 500 Women Small Business owners have received Training\u201d *FACT: ExxonMobil […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":2478,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[107],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-11707","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-africa"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11707","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=11707"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/11707\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/2478"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=11707"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=11707"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/nigeriastandardnewspaper.com\/a\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=11707"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}