Two female entrepreneurs, Mrs Isimeme Whyte and Mrs Ojiugo Ajunwa, have advocated the digitisation of female-led businesses, saying it would improve economic development in the country.
The duo spoke in separate interviews with the News Agency of Nigeria (NAN) in Benin on Thursday, July 13, 2023. They said that higher levels of gender equality in the digital space were associated with positive outcomes in terms of income, economic growth and competitiveness.
Ajunwa, the Co-founder, Ritetrac Consulting, a management and technology consulting firm, said that female entrepreneurs, especially the pro-poor women-led businesses, should be assisted on how to leverage technology to grow their enterprises.
“In today’s world, if your business is not seen, you cannot find customers.
“Customers are now on social media, they are searching google pages and if you are unable to feature your business there, you will not be found,’’ she said.
Ajunwa urged women entrepreneurs to learn different strategies to improve their online visibility such as doing reviews and regular content creation.
“Some female business owners do have online presence but may not be using it in the right way.
“There are strategies for making quality content, making sure that they have reviews from customers so that there is the trust factor in what they do and more people will raise their hands and do business with them.
“Having an online presence will really help you to attract more consumers and do business in more volumes as well as make more profit to sustain the business.”
In the same vein, Mrs Isimeme Whyte, the Founder of Genius Hub, noted that ignorance of the importance of E-commerce by women in the micro and small business space had been a challenge in gender inclusivity in digitisation transformation.
“One thing that has been preventing women from dominating the online space with their business is ignorance.
“Many of them are not aware of the opportunities and benefits of e-commerce. We have more women that are traders and we want them to see the benefits of doing their buying and selling via technology.
“There are digital tools for business structure and system, so women need to know how to use these tools and be linked to mentors to give them direction.
“They need to learn how to use technology. If you do not have the time to do it, hire somebody to do it for you. Money has become mobile so your business also needs to be mobile,” Whyte said.