How Local Women Businesses In Bauchi Mobilize Over N1 Billion In Savings

From Paul Orude Bauchi

Thousands of poor struggling women and youth in Bauchi State have seen their lives transformed from poverty to wealth creation through the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA), a Global Affairs Canada (GAC)-funded project.

In the heart of Bauchi, the agri-food landscape has been quietly transformed by the Women Empowerment and Youth Entrepreneurship (WAY) project—an initiative funded by Global Affairs Canada (GAC) and implemented by the Mennonite Economic Development Associates (MEDA).

The seven-year journey, aimed at enhancing business performance and the overall environment for women and youth-led businesses, officially concluded its programmatic activities in December 2023.

At the local close-out event in Bauchi, Mrs. Lydia John Shehu, Director General of the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs), praised MEDA as “the best development partner that has impacted immensely to the socioeconomic development in the life of people of the state”.

Unveiling the project’s impact, Emeraid Capital Management Consults, a key facilitating partner, highlighted MEDA’s support across 7 Local Government Areas (LGAs), resulting in the mobilization of over one billion Naira in savings by rural women and youth led businesses from 443 communities.

Testimonials from the close-out activity emphasized the project’s role in providing women access to more than 9,000 agro-processing technologies, addressing issues such as early and forced marriages.

Expressing gratitude during the close-out, the First Lady of Bauchi State commended MEDA and GAC, acknowledging the resilience and tenacity of the women of Bauchi in navigating economic challenges. In her closing remarks, she appealed to project partners to remain relentless in sustaining the impact of the WAY project.

The MEDA’s main project in Nigeria is called WAY — Youth Entrepreneurship and Women’s Empowerment, was a five-year program funded with $15 million from the Canadian government and $1.1 million from MEDA, Nigeria’s northern Bauchi state.

The aim was to increase contributions by entrepreneurs and small-scale businesses, particularly those run by women and youth, to support economic growth.

The WAY project was implemented in seven local government areas namely Bauchi, Toro, Warji, Ganjuwa, Jama’are, Dass and Katagum of Bauchi State where the impact of deforestation and strain on the natural environment caused by a growing population are being felt.

Available records indicated that no fewer than 41,000 people, including 16,000 small scale businesses benefitted from MEDA interventions in business capacity and business environments through engagement with information and labor-saving technology.

Through the project, Binta Zubairu got inspired by agent banking training and became Point of Sales (POS) agent in her community. Zubair, who deals in rice, groundnut, and soybeans in Warji, started her entrepreneurial journey in groundnut processing with her mother 15 years ago and processed between 15-25 mudus every week before she got to know of the WAY project. This was a part time business for her, she was only active during festive periods or occasions.

“I attended the training in Warji here and made up my mind to add other business to what I was doing. I switch to marketing and now doing buying and reselling grains, Rice, beans, soybeans, groundnut, and oils” she said

 “It was another turning point for me, though I am used to the POS machine because I do operate it for somebody sometimes but I didn’t know secret about its economic benefits, I thought it was something that need big money and traveling to Bauchi to source for cash, it was during the training all the secret was revealed to us and I picked interest in the business”

As an entrepreneur she trades in the project value chains in cash most times, she deposits the cash to her account through the POS agents around and gets charged for such transactions. The digital finance training inspired her to go into the business and have her own POS terminal. She now owns a registered business named “BZ Processing Ventures”.

 “I do more transactions when civil servants receive their salaries and market days, I do receive N200, 000 to N500,000 cash during market days”

The digital finance training was helpful to her during the cash scarcity due to the cashless policy of the federal government. She did not face the challenges other competitors faced; she had an alternative mode of transaction when others relied on only cash.

“I made more profit during cash crunch because the price of those that pay electronically was different from those that pay in cash, and the normal charges for those that came for withdrawal were tripled during that time,” she said excitedly.

Her monthly profit from the POS business ranged between N70, 000 to N80,000.

She revealed that the proceeds from her business are being used to support household expenses and other personal finances and she now serves as a source of motivation for other project clients who received digital finance training to invest in POS agent business.

“I have eight children, some are in tertiary institutions, some are in secondary and primary school, I contribute almost 50% of my family needs,” she stated.

Amina Aminu Adams is a 38-year-old woman from Azare Tsakuwa who is into soybean sale and processing- (Tofu) in her community.

Afams has been into the business of soy processing and sale for the past five years and ventured into soybean-(tofu) business because she saw it very lucrative.

“Before the coming of MEDA, I was at point of total disarray and incoordination,” she recalled.

“I had no knowledge around Soy Utilization, Financial Management, and Access to finance or Business growth because I had no knowledge whatsoever”

Amina recalled she lacked financial management and record keeping which contributed to many losses in the business as she was unable to account

Also, she had no knowledge of how to process Soybean properly into varieties such as soy kebab with sauce and many other forms. I also had no means of accessing financial services

“The Training I received from MEDA has changed a lot of things in my Family and Business,” she stated.

“ I can now confidently support my husband with upkeep of our home, provide support to  seven of our children with their education, take them to hospital when there is an emergency without waiting for my husband, buy clothes for them and contribute to the general upkeep of my family.

“I have experience growth in my business immensely, prior to now I was processing just 5 measures of soy but now I can process between 1-3 bags in a week. People within and outside my community come all the way to patronize me”

Hauwa Yahaya, 36, based in Azare town at Tilangori community, is married with eight children, is a full housewife who has been in groundnut oil business for over 10 years.

Yayaha started business with five mudus of groundnut with N5000 her husband lent her some as capital of 5,000(five thousand Naira) which has been able to make turnovers and good profit and returned the money she borrowed to her husband.

“Life before the project was manageable because I often relied on my husband to do provide for the household,” she stated

“The major challenge I had was lack of grinding machine nearby to grind the groundnut which I had carry back to town and often came back home late.

“Also I had no financial knowledge on how to market my product’s within and outside my community “All that has changed now and Adams has become a budding entrepreneur thanks to the intervention by MEDA

Salamatu Chiroma Agric entrepreneur from Durr village of Dass LGA MEDA, is one of the thousands of women that also have success stories to tell of the project

Chiroma, explained that as a rural dweller, she engaged in farming with little success owing to her low level of literacy until she was involved in entrepreneurship engagement which qualified her to be selected as among MEDA clients.

“Life before the MEDA project was a little above primitive because I carried out my farming and business without knowledge of how business should be done,” she said

“Sometimes my business stopped because of how I manages my fund”

“I didn’t have the basic principles of business, no idea of how to account for my business, I sold and spent money when the need arose, no savings just spending both the capital and profit”

However through MEDA, Slamanu was trained and introduced to the Vilage Svings Loans Seheme , and together with a fgroup of liked women, were trained.

Her story changed since her encounter with MEDA

“I joined VSLA group created by MEDA where I started receiving pieces of training on business management and development”

She was one of the participants in Agent Banking training conducted prepared with skills to become banking agents providing financial services in their various communities

In order to tackle climate change, MEDA partnered with local clean technology firm Roshan Renewables to incentivize and promote the uptake of clean cook stoves which is 60% fuel efficient and more than 20,000 women have been supported to adopt clean cookstoves in the  State.

In addition, MEDA created the first Bauchi State Environmental Stakeholders Forum which brought stakeholders to collectively identify environmental challenges and jointly proffered solutions to them.

MEDA Nigeria WAY project partnered with National Agency for Great Green Wall (NAGGW) and have trained and equipped more than 100 youth in seedling production.

Daily Sun learnt that these youth groups raised more than 30,000 seedlings in three years with these seedlings have been distributed freely to partners, women entrepreneurs and other stakeholders in the state.

The WAY project pioneered the Bauchi State Agro-Input Association with representative from each LGAs. This groups have so far improved access to farm inputs, support in the regulations of farm inputs as well as curtailed the menace of indiscriminate use of farm chemicals in the state.

The MEDA WAY project have so far partnered Development Exchange Centre; A micro finance institution to support the acquisition of clean technology by women and youths in the state.

The MEDA WAY project has also partnered with the Bauchi State chapter of the Nigerian Union of Journalists including staff and students from Mass Communication Department from learning institutions in the state to conduct trainings on environment and climate change and improve climate change reporting in the state.

The Country Project Manager of MEDA, Mrs Grace Fosen, commended the state government for   the enabling environment to carry out the project in the past seven years, and appealed for sustenance of outcome for the development of overall people of the state.

MEDA 294 small scale businesses and established 590 VSLAs Groups across 443 four hundred in the seven local government areas of the state that benefitted from the project and the saving groups were N700 milion in Three Years.

MEDA has established Empowerment Learning Centres in the seven local government areas in addition to Gender Action Learning System aimed at resolving issues bordering on families in the society.