KATSINA — Vice-President Kashim Shettima has flagged off the disbursement of the Community Investment Fund under the Nigeria for Women Programme Scale-Up (NFWP-SU), with more than 40,000 women in Katsina State set to receive business capital.
Shettima performed the flag-off on Sunday at the Muhammadu Dikko Stadium, Katsina, during his one-day official visit to the state.
The fund is designed to help beneficiaries expand businesses, improve household incomes and strengthen their economic resilience through Women Affinity Groups (WAGs).
The Vice-President said the intervention was an investment in the capabilities and economic potential of women, particularly those facing limited access to capital and productive resources.
He said beneficiaries had met the prescribed eligibility conditions and demonstrated satisfactory performance in savings and group activities.
Shettima urged beneficiaries to sustain the savings culture, proper record-keeping and collective responsibility that qualified them for the intervention, while calling on programme administrators to ensure transparency, fairness and accountability in disbursement.
Governor Dikko Umaru Radda said women’s economic empowerment remained a central component of his administration’s Building Your Future Agenda, noting that the state had committed matching resources to complement the World Bank’s investment.
According to Radda, the matching commitment helped expand NFWP-SU from an initial six Local Government Areas to all 34 LGAs in Katsina.
He said the Community Investment Fund would enable Women Affinity Groups to establish new businesses, expand existing enterprises and strengthen productive economic activities.
Radda stressed that Sunday’s flag-off marked the beginning, rather than the completion, of the disbursement process, assuring eligible groups that had not received funds at the launch that payments would continue in phases.
He appealed to the World Bank and other development partners for additional funding and technical support to expand the programme and reach more women, particularly those in underserved communities.
The governor also highlighted the participation of women with hearing impairment who had formed their own Women Affinity Groups, saying their inclusion demonstrated the programme’s commitment to removing barriers to economic opportunity.
World Bank Country Director for Nigeria, Matthew Verghis, said investing in women could generate significant economic gains for Nigeria.
Verghis cited a World Bank Gender Innovation Lab diagnostic which estimated that closing gender gaps in agriculture, self-employment and wage employment could generate $22.9 billion, equivalent to 5.8 per cent of Nigeria’s GDP.
He said the $540 million NFWP-SU was being implemented across 32 states, targeting five million women directly, while an estimated 4.5 million jobs could be created through the programme.
Verghis said women participating in the programme had already mobilised and saved more than ₦20 billion, describing the savings as evidence of collective financial discipline and economic agency.
He commended Katsina State for its commitment to match every dollar invested in the programme with another dollar from its own resources, saying the decision had supported the expansion of the programme to all 34 LGAs.
The World Bank official urged banks, financial institutions, technology companies and other private-sector organisations to regard Women Affinity Groups as potential customers, suppliers, producers and business partners rather than solely as beneficiaries.
Commissioner for Women Affairs, Hajiya Aisha Aminu Malumfashi, said more than 2,393 Women Affinity Groups had been formed in Katsina and Daura LGAs, with significant progress also recorded in Funtua.
She said the groups had collectively mobilised more than ₦310 million in savings.
Malumfashi urged beneficiaries to use the funds responsibly, expand their businesses and strengthen their groups to improve household and community welfare.
The event was attended by Deputy Governor Faruk Lawal Jobe, Speaker of the State House of Assembly Nasir Yahaya Daura, Secretary to the State Government Abdullahi Garba Faskari, members of the State Executive Council and National Assembly, traditional rulers, development partners and representatives of the World Bank, UNDP and UN Women, among others.
