Several delegates to the National Conference on Thursday, June 12, in Abuja proposed to establish special banks for women with access to low interest loan to finance their businesses in the country.
Hajia Aishatu Isma’iI, representing Kano state said: “I want to suggest that either Peoples’ Bank should be resuscitated or a similar bank should be established to help the women who cannot go to the commercial banks to borrow money.”
According to her, most women were engaged in various small businesses and since they were not big business owners, they could not compete with industrialists to seek loans from commercial banks.
“I am an advocate of women’s bank because with that, the bottlenecks will be removed especially the collaterals banks are asking us to pay. Some of us do not have these collaterals. With the establishment of women’s bank, I think a lot of progress would be made in that direction,” Isma’il said.
Mrs Felicail Sani who represented National Association of Market Women also supported the establishment of special banks for women.
“In 1989, we were deceived and given the now defunct Peoples’ Bank but now we don’t have that bank. Community Bank was also introduced; where is the bank now? Now it is Micro Finance Bank.
“I am appealing to this conference to recommend to government through an act to establish a special bank for the women.
“I am not working on sympathy that the banks should not charge interest because their members of staff will be paid but they should charge a reasonable interest on loans to business women to encourage them to grow.
“Call it a special bank for market women, for traders or women in agriculture,” Sani said.
She, however, attributed the high cost of products to the challenges facing traders such as high cost of transportation, shop rent and multiple charges by local councils, among others.
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