Lagos Advocates Technology-Driven MSME Operations

The Commissioner for Commerce, Industry and Cooperatives, Dr. (Mrs.) Lola Akande revealed that the State Government’s interventions include the deployment of digital education designed to increase awareness regarding their rights and civic engagement.

The Commissioner stated this at the Annual International Women’s Day celebration organised by the International Chamber of Commerce of Nigeria (ICC), in collaboration with NECA’s Network of Entrepreneurial Women (NNEW) today at CBD, Alausa, Ikeja and themed: “DigitALL: Innovation and Technology for Gender Equality”.

Represented by the Permanent Secretary, Mrs. Adetutu Ososanya, FCA, Akande stated that the Lagos Smart City/Fibre Duct Infrastructure Project, being implemented by Governor Babajide Sanwo-Olu’s administration, will drive efficient and effective networking of e-commerce activities for MSMEs operations, many of which are owned by women in the State.

Her words: “The Fibre Optic Metro Network will not only strengthen the operations of tech start-ups, but it will also provide internet connectivity to public schools to enable ICT training for students, particularly our girls and help businesses leverage technology to access global markets. The State is also building the capacity of MSMEs through the organisation of workshops on e-commerce themed: The Relevance of E-Commerce as Catalyst to Agribusiness Value Chain in a 21ST Century Economy”.

She gave the assurance that the State will continue to be a partner in progress towards encouraging the adoption and penetration of digital technology and skills among women as these provide immense opportunities to address developmental challenges and achieve the provisions of the Sustainable Development Goals, SDGs.

Speaking at the event, the Africa Vice President of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Mrs Toki Mabogunje expressed ICC’s commitment to the growth of African Chambers and the empowerment of women, as she called on them to engage more towards deepening the digitalisation of access to opportunities to eliminate gender discrimination.

In her keynote address titled; “Exploiting Technological Innovations For Gender Equality,” Mrs Nozipho Sibanda of Rack Centre Limited affirmed that there is still a long road to gender equality, especially in the economic sphere; the same space that offers limitless opportunities for men placed a ceiling on the women.

“Technology is the equaliser as Artificial Intelligence (AI) tools can be deployed to eliminate bias in the processes of recruitment, performance, assessment and others without attaching gender. Technology can also be used to create flexible working environments especially for nursing mothers and in Actions and Advocacy on issues relating to sexual assault, and domestic violence. I charged you to be your Sister’s keeper and break the stereotype that women bring each other down,” she said.

In her presentation titled; “Digitalisation and Positioning Our Businesses For Profitability,” Dr Ruth Abiola Adimula averred that technology has opened a new vista for businesses such as transport, marketing, payments, etc and the more businesses are digitised, the greater opportunities they can access while saying that relevant agencies need to consider women in the method of tax payment.