PwC MSME Survey 2020
INTERVIEW: OLUBUNMI ABODERIN-TALABI, AUTHOR & PUBLISHER/FORMER EXECUTIVE VICE-CHAIRMAN, WIMBIZ
Olubunmi Aboderin-Talabi
"The stress of trying to
get compliant and stay
compliant, plus the
constant bombardment
of tax officials is a
significant deterrent to
moving from the
informal to the formal
sector."
Please enlighten us on the role of WIMBIZ?
WIMBIZ is an organisation that recognises the vital role that
women play in society and inspires them to do better as
professionals whether they are in careers or running their own
businesses. At WIMBIZ we implement programs that seek to
inspire, empower, connect, and advocate for greater
representation of women in leadership positions both in the
public and private sector. WIMBIZ now has a contributory
associate pool of 679 accomplished women and more than
9,500 women on its database. We regularly collaborate with
credible local and multinational organisations to deliver
programs, which have, on aggregate, directly influenced over
107,465 women since inception. WIMBIZ has 18 programs and
events, mostly annual, that train or support women on boards,
women in public service and women in business.
What are the issues and challenges faced by female-owned
businesses in WIMBIZ?
Female-owned businesses face issues such as limited access
to funding; hidden fees; a narrower pool for mentorship; lack of
sponsorship; challenges with family support and in some
cases, undue intimidation; threats of violence; or social stigma.
Women also carry the larger chunk of the burden of care,
irrespective of their comparative income-earning power. These
are all in addition to the general challenges of doing business
in this environment, such as unstable power supply; fragile
infrastructure and multiple taxation and so on, which all
entrepreneurs, irrespective of gender, have to tackle.
It is estimated that 40% of Nigerian
entrepreneurs are women (one of the
highest rates in the world) but
approximately 23% of enterprises are in
the formal sector. What, in your view, can
be done to move or bring in more women-
owned businesses out of the informal
into the formal sector in Nigeria?
To encourage more women-owned
businesses to migrate into the formal sector,
we would need to improve on the ease of
doing business and make it attractive for small
businesses to register and operate formally.
As it is now, some entrepreneurs who try to do
things the right way justifiably feel as though
they are being unduly penalised for their
probity. There are no less than nine different
types of taxes and levies that registered
businesses have to contend with every year. It
is not unknown for companies, (even those
with a strong track record of paying the correct
amount of taxes when due), to be visited
repeatedly by tax representatives of local,
state and federal authorities. Sometimes staff
from multiple or clashing departments of these
agencies show up. The stress of trying to get
compliant and stay compliant, plus the
constant bombardment of tax officials is a
significant deterrent to moving from the
informal to the formal sector.
Olubunmi Aboderin
Talabi is an author; the
publisher of Clever
Clogs Books; and the
convener of the Akada
Children's Book
Festival. She is
passionate about
creating visually-
engaging, culturally-
relevant content for
children, and has a
desire to see steadily
increasing literacy rates
across the world.
She started her
publishing career
working in a family
newspaper business,
Punch Nigeria Limited.
She has served on the
board of Punch for over
24 years and worked in
an executive capacity
for 8 years as the
Executive Director,
Business Development
and New Projects.
Olubunmi is currently a
Non-Executive Director
at Punch
(www.punchng.com)
PwC MSME Survey 2020
PwC
June 2020
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