The Bank of Industry has partnered with Adeola Azeez Community Care Foundation and Neighbours Shop to donate 50 solar-powered smart retail kiosks to traders in Ogun and Lagos States.
The bank was said to have committed N97m towards the initiative, which aims to empower 50 young women.
On Thursday, 35 women benefitted from the initiative at the unveiling event in Ijebu-Ode, Ogun State.
The kiosks were already stocked with items to sell, including a solar-powered freezer and a tab.
The founder of AACCF, Mrs Adeola Azeez, said the launch of the solar-powered kiosk empowerment project is about unveiling opportunities for growth, transformation, empowerment, and sustainability.
According to her, the foundation is driven by the mission to empower women, children and youth to reach their full potential through initiatives that drive collective prosperity, through empowered communities and engaged citizenry.
“Our project aligns with our unwavering commitment to drive financial independence and support community development. Today, we are taking a giant step towards achieving one of our goals of empowering women and transforming communities in the micro-retail business sector by confronting the challenges of informal hurdles, financial exclusion, energy deficiency, and safety concerns. This achievement is a testament to the power of collaboration.
“It is with great joy that I acknowledge and celebrate our exceptional partners again, the Bank of Industry, whose generous grant transformed a good idea into a life-changing reality. Today, I celebrate the Bank of Industry as a beacon of inclusion and empowerment and as Nigeria’s foremost financial development institution, championing the revolutionary impact of investing in people and communities,” she stated.
Azeez maintained that the innovative model at the heart of the project is to bridge the gap in Nigeria’s informal retail sector, which she said accounts for 90 per cent of the nation’s retail activities.
She said the women selected for this phase of the programme were trained by Neighbours Shop, which initiated the idea.
“This kiosk is about unlocking potential. Each solar-powered kiosk is a hub for innovation, equipped with solar energy, it aligns with our commitment to environmental resilience. It has cloud-connected devices for inventory and business management, refrigeration units for perishable goods, real-time tracking, and robust security features.
“Through this initiative, the foundation contributes to Nigeria’s development agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals, specifically, SDG 1, No poverty; SDG 5, Gender equality and SDG 8, Decent work and economic growth,” she stressed.
She disclosed that 15 of the kiosks are for women in Ikorodu, Lagos while the remaining 35 are for beneficiaries in Ijebu-Ode.
The Managing Director of the Bank of Industry, Olasupo Olusi, said the project was a testament to BoI’s shared commitment to creating opportunities and enabling women to take their rightful place as drivers of economic growth.
Represented by an official of the bank, John Akinde, Olusi said the bank recognises that empowering women is not just a moral imperative, but an economic one as women constitute more than half of the population and have vital contributors to households, communities and the national economy.
He noted that the bank holds women-owned businesses as one of its core focal areas, and also has a dedicated desk to drive and support women-led initiatives, saying gender is one of the six thematic areas of the BoI.
The founder of Neighbours Shop, Muyideen Sanwo-Ola, explained that the beneficiaries of the kiosks make money from the profits they realised from goods sold.
According to him, a beneficiary gets 60 per cent of the profits and the money would be paid into their accounts weekly.
Sanwo-Ola noted that each kiosk is being monitored online to ensure the empowerment did not end up like other political empowerment programmes.
By Dare Olawin @ThePUNCH
