By CrossRiverWatch Admin Follow @crossriverwatch
Being text of speech delivered by the author on the occasion of the Women Empowerment Training by Hegai & Ester Limited to mark the 2018 International Women’s Day.
At the heart of the creative economy are the creative industries. Creative Industries include a number of subsectors, such as; architecture, artistic crafts, fashion and design, film, music, performing and visual arts, publishing, radio, television and video games.
The rise of the Creative economy is reflective of the larger shift occurring within the global economy – the shift from economies based on the production of goods to economies based on provision of services.
A creative entrepreneur is a person who sets up business in the creative economy sector, taking on financial risks in the hope of making profit.
Increasingly, people are coming to the realization that women are crucial to economic growth around the world and the woman creative entrepreneur even more so.
Based on experiences over time, it is clear that women entrepreneurs see the world through a different lens and, in turn, do things differently.
This is reflected in the kinds of businesses women start and grow, whether it’s Coco Chanel, who learned the trade of a seamstress as a child, Estée Lauder, who turned a passion for skincare and make-up into a beauty empire.
Whether it is Deola Sagoe, founder of Deola and a leading lady of African haute couture fashion or it is Gbemisola Adebayo, the Founder and Managing Director of Hegai & Esther Limited, one of Africa’s fastest growing beauty brands; women creative entrepreneurs are bringing revolution to entrepreneurship nationally and internationally.
Narrowing the gender gap in entrepreneurship and employment will increase global income per person by as much as 20% by 2030 research has shown and is thus critical to sustaining prosperity in the future.
As the world transits from economies based on the production of goods to economies based on provision of services, creative industry becomes the only assurance of a prosperous future.
The Woman creative entrepreneur is a critical puzzle piece in that future prosperity of the nations.
It is important that effort must be made to improve the ease with which the woman creative entrepreneur starts and grows her business in Cross River State in particular and Nigeria in general if our state and nation must be part of this prosperous future.
Important challenges such as access to finance, access to markets, capacity building and many others must be given adequate solutions.
First, for many women creative entrepreneurs in Nigeria, access to financing is a major concern. Financial institutions and funding agencies must design programs to solve this.
Second, access to market is important to the survival of any creative enterprise globally. Women creative entrepreneurs must ensure a good market research of their target market if their businesses must succeed.
Third, the importance of capacity to the success of a creative enterprise cannot be over emphasized. A woman creative entrepreneur must continually develop herself if her business must survive in this competitive environment.
Our nation and our state needs women creative entrepreneurs. It is time to provide the support and tools to ensure that women-led creative enterprises survive and flourish.
So as we gather here today for this very timely Women Empowerment Training by Hegai & Ester Limited to mark the International Women’s Day 2018, it is a step in the right direction.
We must strive thus to sustain and scale this up for greater impact and results for the woman creative entrepreneur, and in so doing create the prosperous future for our nation that we need.
The time for the woman creative entrepreneur to flourish is now.
Emmanuel Etim is SSA Creative and Knowledge Economy. Follow @emmanuel_etim22
NOTE:Opinions expressed in this article are strictly attributable to the author, Emmanuel Etim, and do not represent the opinion of CrossRiverWatch or any other organization the author works for/with.