As part of the effort to advance women’s economic empowerment, the development Research and Projects Centre (dRPC) has been in close talks with the HIVE, communications experts to create social impact for women enterprises, corporations, as well as non-profit organizations. 

Through the PAWED project the dRPC in collaboration with the HIVE has developed an activity to build the capacity of high-level Women from networks of WEC’s in Lagos State scheduled to take place from 27th to 29th of July 2021. 

“The dRPC has sent out a call for applications which specifically profiled a number of high level WEC’s in Lagos State and is pleased to note that 3 reputable and established Women’s networks have been selected to participate in this activity,” the organization said. 

“One of these groups is the Association of Nigerian Women in Business Network (ANWBN), which is a coalition of 52 WEC’s that aims to advance women as economic actors. The organization spans the 36 States of Nigeria, whose membership includes women in industries such as, Agriculture, Textiles, and Manufacturing, among others,” it added. 

During one of the meetings, representatives explained that, the aim of these series of discussions was to have a shared understanding of points of alignment as Gates grantees working on Women’s Economic Empowerment projects in Nigeria. 

“Key to this partnership is a shared understating of the importance of framing the right messages and leveraging strategic tools to advance women’s economic empowerment,” the delegates who attended the meeting said. 

At the end of the training the participants will be supported to conduct a series of strategic advocacy visits to a number of selected MDA’s implementing WEE projects, which are of national importance such as the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Bank of Industry (BOI), and SMEDAN, among others.

The training program will bring together a number of high-level partners including gates grantees implementing projects in Nigeria, such as the Albright Stonebridge Group (ASG) etc. 

On her part, the HIVE has expressed excitement at the collaboration and expressed eagerness to commence work especially in its area of expertise, which is leveraging influencer platforms for advocacy. 

The next step of the meeting is expected to see the dRPC in collaboration with partners such as the HIVE and ASG co-creates a training program, and also conduct a needs assessment of the participating groups to ensure that the training is fit for purpose. 

During the meeting, the dRPC team was represented by Dr Judith-Anne Walker, Dr Stanley Ukpai, Hassan A Karofi, Fatai Yusuf and Unekwu Ani-Ezekiel; while the HIVE team was represented by Zehra Talib, Fifehan Osikan, Katie Harrison, Catherine Sutherland and Evangeline DiMichele respectively.