Wife of Cross River State Governor, Linda Ayade, giving her address during the launch of the empowerment program
PATRICK ABANG Calabar –
The Asuquo Ekpeyong Foundation (AEF) in partnership with Cross River State Women Emancipation Initiative (CRWEI) has disbursed N50,000 to 1,000 women, who are engaged in micro & small businesses in the state..
NATIONAL ACCORD reports that the beneficiaries, who were selected from the 196 administrative wards of Cross River State, were trained on financial management to enable them access loans and grow their businesses.
In her remarks at the event in Ikom, the wife of Cross River State Governor, Linda Ayade, who was full of enthusiasms for the training and support of women in business to boost their productivity, commended the Asuquo Ekpenyong Foundation for partnering with CROWEI to empower women across the 196 wards of Cross River State.
She disclosed that “CROWEI will continue to stand firm with women in all their endeavors while calling for more participation of women in leadership/business positions that would grow the local economy”.
On his part, the founder of AEF, Mr. Asuquo Ekpenyong, said he was motivated to inaugurate the project designed to support 1,000 women in micro & small businesses across the state, in order to cushion the economic hardship in the state.
“A wise man taught me that ‘we don’t give because we have enough, we give because we care enough.’ We must find ways to alleviate the suffering of our people. I am convinced that one of the ways to do this is through supporting our women. As primary caregivers in the home, uplifting women will uplift entire families because they extend those resources across the members of the home.
In my experience, people do not want to be given fish. They want to be taught how to fish. They want to be given the tools to improve their lives and the lives of their families.
“Therefore, it is highly imperative that businesses become more sustainable as well as scalable in order to drive growth in the local economy,” he said.
“At the height of the lockdown in 2020, CROWEI were very instrumental in alleviating the hardships women faced across Cross River State. During the lockdown, Asuquo Ekpenyong Foundation also supported the State Government with a donation of N25 million in cash and medical supplies to assist in its welfare interventions.
“Today, we go a step further. The Asuquo Ekpenyong Foundation has trained 1,000 women who are currently engaged in micro & small business on financial management to enable them access loans and grow their businesses. We carefully selected these women who are resident and doing business across the 196 administrative wards of Cross River to ensure that we develop a model case”, he said.
He noted that at the end of the training program today, the Foundation disbursed N50,000,000 in Micro Grants of N50,000 each to all 1,000 beneficiaries to scale up their working capital.
One of the beneficiaries, Nkoyo Okon from Akparabong Ward, said the grant would help her to expand and meet up with the demand of the season, especially her yam trading business.
Another young lady, Ms Favour Ushie, from Bekwarra, expressed gratitude to CROWEI and the Foundation for the financial assistance at a time like this.
According to her, the Coronavirus has been a big setback to businesses, saying the financial aid was what she needed to re-launch her business.
