NDDC partners banks to assist women access business loans

Niger Delta Development Commission, NDDC, says it has concluded plans to partner some financial institutions to assist women to access cash improve their livelihood. The Managing Director of NDDC, Dr Samuel Ogbuku, disclosed this yesterday when a delegation from the Union Bank Nigeria visited him at the NDDC headquarters in Port Harcourt, according to a statement by the Director, Corporate Affairs, NDDC, Pius Ughakpoteni. Ogbuku promised that the commission would partner UBA and other banks for Women Empowerment in the Niger Delta Region. He said “We are looking at providing single digit loans to support the women. That is why we are supporting the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce to build entrepreneurs. The Chamber of Commerce will help us to share the risks and build a database which will guide the NDDC in setting up empowerment schemes. We are also setting up structures to monitor the performance of the entrepreneurs.”

The NDDC boss stated that the registration of the Niger Delta Chamber of Commerce being championed by the NDDC was meant to extend the reach of the Commission’s programme of empowering the people of the Niger Delta region through entrepreneurial schemes. Ogbuku said that the Commission decided to adopt the Public Private Partnership, PPP, model to provide alternative sources of funding for its key development projects and programmes in order to support entrepreneurial growth and fast track development in the area. Ogbuku said “The Niger Delta is the bedrock of the Nigerian economy and we need peace for development to thrive in the region. We need to get people engaged to ensure peace. Women in the region are very industrious but we need to strengthen them.”

However, the Regional Business Executive, South, for Union Bank Nigeria, Mr. Chidi Ileka, stressed the need to support women with training to enable them succeed in businesses. Ileka expressed the bank’s willingness to partner with the NDDC to further empower women in the Niger Delta region to ensure their enhanced opportunities for success. He said “We recognise the pivotal role that access to finance plays in entrepreneurial success and economic growth. By working with the NDDC, we hope to provide women with improved financial resources that will empower them to start or expand their businesses and achieve financial stability.