Promoting women’s economic justice and rights and closing gender gaps are key to achieving the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development and achieving the Sustainable Development Goals. Joshua Bassey writes on how the Shakti Initiative is geared towards this.
Investing in women’s economic empowerment sets a direct path towards gender equality, poverty eradication and inclusive economic growth. Women make enormous contributions to economies, whether in businesses, on farms, as entrepreneurs or employees or by doing unpaid care work at home.
But they also remain disproportionately affected by poverty, discrimination and exploitation. Gender discrimination, according to the United Nations (UN), means women often end up in insecure, low-wage jobs, and constitute a small minority of those in senior positions. It limits their participation in shaping economic and social policies. And, because women perform the bulk of household work, they often have little time left to pursue economic opportunities.
When more women work, economies grow. Women’s economic empowerment increases economic diversification and income equality for shared prosperity, according to the United Nations.
Empowering women in any community is pivotal to the growth and development of such a society. It helps in promoting women’s sense of self-worth and ability to make their own choices and their right to influence social change for themselves and others. Empowering women not only lifts individuals out of poverty but also strengthens families, communities, and nations.
Empowerment enables women to make informed decisions, access education, and pursue opportunities, breaking down barriers of inequality, and thereby building more inclusive and just societies. It fosters innovation and economic growth thus creating a ripple effect that benefits future generations.
When women are empowered, they gain the skills, resources, and confidence needed to fully participate in economic, social, and political spheres.
The UN further notes that empowering women economically entails ensuring women’s ability to participate equally in existing markets, enabling their access to and control over productive resources, and supporting them to get decent work and control over their own time, lives, and bodies.
Unilever Nigeria Shakti Initiative
In line with its commitment to continuous positive social impact on livelihoods, Unilever Nigeria has empowered over 13,000 women across 21 states in Nigeria and the Federal Capital Territory (FCT) through its Shakti initiative.
The Shakti initiative is implemented in partnership with the Growing Businesses Foundation (GBF). It aims to provide beneficiary women with the tools, training, and mentorship needed to become independent entrepreneurs, contributing to their economic improvements, families, and communities by selling Unilever products.
The Shakti initiative aligns with Unilever’s global commitment to gender equality both in Nigeria and globally. This is transforming the lives of women across the world. Since its launch in 2014, the Shakti Women Empowerment Project has been transforming the lives of women in semi-urban and rural areas across Nigeria.
The initiative is being implemented in partnership with the Growing Businesses Foundation (GBF). It aims to provide women with the tools, training, and mentorship needed to become independent entrepreneurs, contributing to their economic stability and the broader growth of their communities.
The success of Shakti lies in its community-based business model, which allows vulnerable women to distribute Unilever products as a means of livelihood and generate income to support their families. Currently, the Shakti programme is ongoing in the Federal Capital Territory (FCT), and 21 states namely Akwa Ibom, Anambra, Benue, Delta, Ebonyi, Edo, Enugu, Imo, Kaduna, and Kwara. It also operates in Lagos, Nasarawa, Niger, Ogun, Oyo, Plateau, Kano, Bauchi, Ondo, Bayelsa and Gombe States, and impacting the lives of over 13,000 women.
Through this initiative, women are given the chance to break free from financial dependency and build sustainable micro-businesses.
This is in tandem with United Nations’ Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) 2 (Zero Hunger) and 5 (Gender Equality).
Tobi Adeniyi, the customer development director of Unilever Nigeria, speaking on the impact of the Shakti initiative, said: “Since the inception of the Shakti initiative in 2014, we have seen significant improvements in the lives of the women. Some of them started with product support in the value of N20,000 and over the years have grown it to double digits of hundreds of thousands and some in millions.”
“This is a testament to the power of purpose and belief in women to do great things socioeconomically to make a positive impact in their homes and the society as a whole.
Unilever Nigeria is proud of this initiative and remains committed to expanding the Shakti initiative to reach more women in thousands year on year,” Adeniyi said.
Spotlight on Gbemisola Ogunremi from Ibadan, Oyo State
One of the success stories of the Shakti initiative is Gbemisola Sherifat Ogunremi from Ibadan, Oyo State. A former hairdresser who joined the Shakti initiative with N20,000 worth of Unilever products. With the training she received, she learned how to manage her sales, keep records, and plough back her profits into the business. Ogunremi, who started as a petty trader, has now grown into a thriving retailer in her community.
Ogunremi said Shakti has made her dream come true. “I have been able to support my family, and my husband is proud of me. Supporting my family has been seamless because expenses are made from my profit, and it does not affect my business”, she said.
By participating in the Shakti initiative, Ogunremi said she was able to save money and, with the support of her husband, able to fulfil a lifelong dream of going on a hajj pilgrimage. Besides this development, she has started empowering other women by involving them in a thrift system that helps them purchase Unilever products and start their small businesses.
Advising other Shakti women to devote themselves to the business, and remain focused on improving their livelihoods through the initiative, she said, “If I had not taken the opportunity to join Shakti, I wouldn’t be here.”
Field agents’ role in the empowerment programme
While Ogunremi’s future goal is to expand her business and become a sub-distributor for Unilever Nigeria, her success in the Shakti initiative wouldn’t be possible without the dedicated field agents and mentors who work to ensure the progress of beneficiaries like her.
One such agent is Aminat Bakare, who currently manages 100 Shakti women. She is responsible for handholding, coaching, and building the capabilities of these women, guiding them on how to record sales, place orders, and display their products effectively.
Bakare’s commitment to her role is evident in her passion for seeing women succeed. She has taught them to be customer-centric and loyal to both the brand and their customers. Her desire is for all the women under her supervision to grow into renowned distributors within the Unilever ecosystem.
According to Adeniyi, Unilever Nigeria remains committed to the socioeconomic development of Nigeria, through initiatives like Shakti focused on women empowerment and Future X Campus Ambassadors Programmee (FUCAP) focused on equipping young people across higher institutions with future work skills in partnership with UNICEF Generation Unlimited (GenU).
“Unilever Nigeria is also committed to making the environment safer and healthier through plastic initiative in partnership with Wecyclers, to take out more plastic from the environment than what it puts into it. As the longest-serving manufacturing company in Nigeria that has stayed over a hundred years in the country, Unilever Nigeria remains committed to staying in Nigeria and contributing to the socioeconomic development of the country through its brands and operations, Adeniyi explained.
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