By Josephine Oguntoyinbo
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A call has gone to women entrepreneurs to legalise their businesses  so as to position them for better opportunities.

The President, Association of Non-Bank Micro Finance Institutions Of Nigeria, (ANMFIN), Princess Adesola Ogunleye made the call in a chat with The Hope.

According to her, some women entrepreneurs have  allowed themselves to be suppressed because of their attitude to business.

Princess Ogunleye, who doubles as the Coordinator of CountryWomen Association of Nigeria, COWAN maintained that some women did not take their businesses beyond their neighborhood which has made them to lose many opportunities in the business world.

She affirmed that this is a challenge that has hindered most female entrepreneurs from accessing loans, even though studies confirmed that women repay loans more promptly.

To this end, she urged women to work harder to break the barriers and take the courage to put more professionalism into their businesses in order to move to the next level.

“If women can put in  more efforts and legalise their businesses, they would even do better and make more profits in them,  because this would go a long way in exposing their markets to the larger populace .

“The risk of continuing informal businesses is not good for the economy. It also limits the business owner from accessing some basic benefits.

“More women are participating in business now and this had led to financial freedom and reduction in poverty in the family”  she stressed.

While urging government to direct commercial banks to consider women’s challenges by giving out more loans to them, she equally advised women to embrace partnerships by joining cooperatives and associations relating to their businesses,  so as to boost their markets and equally gain more ideas .