NCDMB and UN Women move to widen access to $40m fund for women in oil and gas
- NCDMB and UN Women met in Abuja to find ways to get more women into a $40m oil and gas fund.
- The fund offers loans at 5 per cent but few women-owned businesses have taken it up.
- Both sides proposed a study into why access is low and steps to raise awareness.
The Nigerian Content Development and Monitoring Board (NCDMB) and UN Women are working together to make it easier for women-owned businesses to use a $40 million loan fund set up for them in the oil and gas industry.
The fund was created in April 2021, when NCDMB put in $20 million and the Nigerian Export-Import Bank (NEXIM) matched it with another $20 million. Women-owned and women-led firms can borrow from it at 5 per cent interest.
But few have taken up the offer. Both NCDMB and UN Women say uptake has stayed below expectations, and they want to know why.
What was discussed in Abuja
UN Women's Country Representative to Nigeria and the Economic Community of West African States (ECOWAS), Beatrice Eyong, led a delegation to the NCDMB liaison office in Abuja. She was received by the board's General Manager of Corporate Communications, Obinna Ezeobi, on behalf of Executive Secretary Felix Omatsola Ogbe.
Eyong proposed a study to find out what is stopping women from accessing the fund. She pointed to possible barriers such as documentation requirements, business registration, tax compliance and low awareness of the scheme.
She also suggested training for NCDMB staff so that gender is considered in the board's planning, budgeting and projects. Other ideas discussed included vendor development programmes to prepare women-led firms for industry contracts, better publicity for the financing options, and procurement rules that could give women-owned companies a fairer share of work in the sector.
Ezeobi said the board is ready to partner with UN Women. He listed steps NCDMB has already taken, including the 5 per cent loan arrangement with NEXIM, a Diversity Sectoral Working Group under the Nigerian Content Consultative Forum (NCCF), and support for associations of women working across the energy industry.
He said the board has also funded training for women entrepreneurs in business sustainability, corporate governance and strategic management, and encourages girls to study science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM).
Even so, Ezeobi acknowledged that women remain underrepresented in oil and gas. He blamed limited access to technical education, finance and commercial opportunities, and the belief that the sector is mainly for men.
Why it matters
Oil and gas is where much of Nigeria's government revenue and export earnings come from, yet women remain underrepresented in the industry, according to the NCDMB. A loan at 5 per cent could help a woman-run engineering, logistics or catering firm win contracts that are usually out of reach.
For now, the fund is still there and still underused. The next step, if the two sides agree, is a study to find the real obstacles, followed by awareness campaigns and training.
