Nigerian women have no problems with setting up businesses but they find it difficult to maintain and grow them. Many of these women prefer establishing their own businesses to searching for jobs. However, these businesses are, in most cases, affected shortly after they were established so that they remain stagnant or are closed down altogether. This is not because those women are lazy to work hard or that they have not been making efforts to keep their businesses afloat. The truth is that many factors remain unfavourable to Nigerian women. Unless those challenges are addressed, women in Nigeria will continue to experience challenges in their businesses.

A lady once recounted how her business closed down shortly after it was established. According to her, she hardly had time to stay in her shop. She said she goes to her shop late (after performing her house chores) and leaves early (to continue from where she stopped in the morning and to take care of the children that just returned from school). She could not employ a shop attendant because it was not part of the agreement she had with her husband before the business was set-up. When it became obvious that she couldn’t combine the business and her duties at home, she closed it down and faced her family.

The story recounted above is almost the same as that of many Nigerian women. Being a woman in Nigeria is already challenging because there are some cultural practices and societal expectations that prevent women from achieving their potential. The business environment is also unfavourable to them because of those practices and expectations. Even though some old traditions are gradually changing, there are many that still linger. Nevertheless, family duties, societal expectations, access to loans, and lack of entrepreneurial skills are some of the major factors affecting Nigerian women’s businesses.

1. Family Duties: Being a woman in Nigeria automatically makes the person a mother. Even before she bears children, she is expected to act as a mother. A Nigerian woman is a mother to her siblings, nieces, nephews, cousins, mother, mother-in-law, father-in-law, husband, and so on. This would not have been a problem except that she is expected to nurse these people so long as she has breath in her. She will help them to plan their lives and take care of them when they are sick. Responsibilities such as these act as the heavy objects tied to people’s ankles to prevent them from running. It is difficult to run a business with all these responsibilities lined up.
2. Societal Expectations: Being a woman in Nigeria is equal to taking second place. She is not expected to “compete” with men. She is a “woman” and must remember that always. Women already have their duties mapped out for them by society and they are expected to conform. Those that ignore those duties and choose theirs are treated as anomalies. It is in this case that you hear people asking, “Can this one marry?” “Who will marry this one?” “Can a man control this one?” and other funny but damaging comments. The damaging effect of societal laid down rules for women is that it influences young women into seeing themselves as incapable of achieving much. This hinders their desire to progress or break new grounds in their businesses. They will prefer remaining small-scale business owners to expand and be branded negatively.
3. Access to Loans: Borrowing a large amount of money from banks requires collateral. In Nigeria, many women have no collaterals to present. The African culture does not allow them the right to inherit properties from their fathers or to own any if they are married. As a result, many Nigerian women have no properties that could serve as collateral for loans and they cannot afford to buy any. This has killed many dreams.
4. Lack of Entrepreneurial Skills: Because it is believed that women have no business with entrepreneurship, most of them go into businesses without possessing basic entrepreneurial skills. Only a few have gone for training and have taken their businesses to the next level. But many remain where they are, unable to understand why they are not growing. Many women need to be trained in business skills.

There is no gainsaying that empowering women will reduce poverty in the country. A lot of women want to own and manage their businesses but they find it difficult to do that. NGOs and other humanitarian organisations have been making efforts towards women empowerment but their impacts are not fully felt. This is a call for more well-meaning individuals, associations and organisations to come to the aid of women in Nigeria.

At the end of the 63rd Recording Academy/Grammy Awards ceremony held in Los Angeles Convention Center, Nigerian artists; Burna Boy won the Best Global Music Album category for his Twice As Tall album while Wizkid won the Best Music Video for his song with Beyonce, Brown Skin Girl, from Lion King: the Gift album.

Burna Boy was nominated alongside Malian Tuareg Desert Rock group Tinariwen, NYC afrobeat band Antibalas, Brazilian-American Bebel Gilberto, and British-Indian sitar player Anoushka Shankar.

The March 14 Grammy Awards, which was held virtually due to COVID-19, became a memorable event for Nigerians who have longed for their favorite artists to win.

The event, which was hosted by South African born Trevor Noah, saw performers separated into five stages to maintain social distancing in accord with COVID-19 safety protocol.

Burna Boy, whose real name is Damini Ogulu was nominated for the first time in 2020 with his album, African Giant, but lost to his fellow African singer, four-time winner, Angelique Kidjo of Benin Republic.

Kidjo dedicated her Grammy to Burna Boy, saying he is among African artists changing the way the continent is perceived.

The Twice AS Tall album scaled the hurdles that limited African Giant, gaining the praise of the Recording Academy who described it as a “masterclass” which has made Burna Boy an international musical force.

“He [Burna Boy] continues to torch limitations, seamlessly blending styles and genres and fearlessly fuelling the fire heating the melting pot of pop, Afrobeat, dancehall, reggae and more,” it said.

The Brown Skin Girl video, which got Wizkid, whose real name is Ayodeji Balogun, his first Grammy award was described by the Recording Academy as “a feast for the fashion-forward and a celebration of Black and brown female beauty everywhere.”

It has been a grass-to-grace journey for both Burna Boy and Wizkid, who have also made their mark in activism.

The 29-year old Port Harcourt-born Burna Boy started in 2011 with his Burn Notice series and came to the limelight in 2012 with the song; Like To Party and Onyeka. In 2013, he added another enticer to his record; Leaving an Impact For Eternity (L.I.F.E) and in 2015, On A Spaceship. All unprecedentedly grew his fanbase and brought him international attention.

In 2017, Burna Boy signed a distribution deal with Warner Music, giving the company rights to distribute his music internationally. The next year, he dropped a banger, an album called Outside, and it changed everything.

American rapper Kanye West had just released a song titled Ye, and there was a rush to stream it. Burna Boy’s Outside album has also a track called Ye, so there was coincidence of fortune as streamers stumbled on Burna Boy’s Ye, shooting it up to record numbers. The Outside album peaked at number three on the Billboard Reggae album chart. Ye exposed him to awards, including Soundcity MVP Awards for Song of the Year and Listener’s Choice and the 2019 Headies award for Song of the Year.

Although he admitted being hurt for not winning the Grammy last year, Burna Boy picked himself up and walked harder for the next edition of the Grammys.

“I know say one day e go better I go carry Grammy, because anything wey better require planning,” he sang after losing to Angelique Kidjo in 2020.

A year after, Burna boy was giving acceptance speech after winning the prestigious award.

“This is a big win for my generation of Africans all over the world. This should also be a lesson to every African out there that no matter where you are, no what you will like to do, you can achieve it,” he said.

Update: Innoson Motors is disputing this but Vanguard Newspapers which broke the news is yet to remove it from its website (see below). We have updated our articles accordingly. This is largely expected as I wrote in my original piece: “This is not going to be the end of this story – I expect the Central Bank of Nigeria to be concerned.”

Certainly, Innoson Motors would not like to score an own-goal here. Yet, why it took it more than 100 hours to respond is another story.

As always, we see our platform as an education arena – and that does not mean endorsement. Tekedia is a school and teaching something does not mean endorsing it. We will continue to share emerging technologies even if we do not endorse them.  Shine your eyes.

Press Release

"We did not sign any Partnership with any organization on the use of any form of cryptocurrency for the purchase of any product from Innoson Group."

READ FULL STATEMENT ? pic.twitter.com/MXB4xTODL8

— Innoson Vehicles (@innosonvehicles) March 15, 2021

Like Tesla for BTC, Innoson Motors Will Accept Nigeria’s Cryto Zugacoin

At Tekedia Institute, we work hard to co-educate our members. That is why we partnered with US-based Transdisciplinary Agora for Future Discussions Inc. ( TAFFD’s ) to introduce a popular course on exponential technologies and singularity. Our curriculum is a living document as we update it on the fly if something interesting happens in the markets.

Last week, we got to know about Zugacoin, founded by a Nigerian archbishop. In about two hours, Tekedia Mini-MBA Live will host the “blockchain oracle”, Franklin Peters, CEO of crypto-exchange Bitfxt for an academic festival on Zugacoin, Bitcoin, Decentralized Finance and blockchain.

• Topic: A Changing Continent: Zugacoin, Bitcoin, Fiats and DeFi
• Faculty: Franklin Peters
• Date: Monday, March 15, 2021
• Time: 7pm WAT
• Zoom: Tekedia Mini-MBA Board

Tekedia Mini-MBA edition 4 members, Zoom link is in the Board. Those who have paid or about paying for the upcoming June edition, email Admin for link.

Update: Innoson Motors is disputing this but Vanguard Newspapers which broke the news is yet to remove it from its website (see below). We have updated our articles accordingly. This is largely expected as I wrote in my original piece: “This is not going to be the end of this story – I expect the Central Bank of Nigeria to be concerned.” Certainly, Innoson Motors would not like to score an own-goal here. Yet, why it took it more than 100 hours to respond is another story. As always, we see our platform as an education arena – and that does not mean endorsement. Tekedia is a school and teaching something does not mean endorsing it. We will continue to share emerging technologies even if we do not endorse them.  Shine your eyes.