MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) Honors Obioma Liyel-Imoke, Founder of POWER, For Empowering Women at Nigeria’s Fifth Annual Microfinance Conference and Entrepreneurial Award Ceremony

The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) recently honored Obioma Liyel-Imoke, the first lady of Cross River State and founder of microlender Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER), with the Best Support First Lady for Women Empowerment award for the second consecutive year at the country’s fifth Annual Microfinance Conference and Entrepreneurial Award Ceremony.

The conference centered around “Financial Inclusion for Accelerated Micro, Small and Medium Enterprises Development: The Nigerian Perspective.” Three years ago, Mrs Liyel-Imoke founded POWER with the intention of bringing financial support, agricultural training and financial education to women in Cross River State, where 72 percent of women are reportedly farmers. Training focuses on improving skills in agriculture and the arts and crafts industries, while education focuses on financial literacy and countering “child abandonment in all its forms.” Through a partnership with CBN, 70 members of POWER currently have outstanding microloans for expanding their farms. Mrs Liyel-Imoke hopes that 5,000 women will borrow such loans within the next two years. POWER has offices in each of the 18 municipalities of Cross River State.

Mr Tunde Lemon, Deputy Governor of CBN, said that “the award was to congratulate, appreciate and encourage her to contribute more towards eradicating poverty [1,2,3].”

By John Howard-Smith, Research Associate

About Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN): Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), established in 1958, is Nigeria’s central banking authority. Its statutory mandates are as follows: “to issue legal tender currency; to maintain external reserves; to safeguard the international value of the legal tender currency; to promote monetary stability and a sound financial system in Nigeria; and to act as banker and financial adviser to the Federal Government.” As of July 2010, CBN reports total assets of NGN 7.37 trillion (USD 48.6 billion).

About Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER): Founded in 2008 by the first lady of Nigeria’s Cross River State, Obioma Liyel-Imoke, Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER) is a nonprofit microfinance outfit based in Calabar intended to bring financial support, agricultural training and financial education to women in Cross River State, where 72 percent of women are reportedly farmers. Through a partnership with CBN, 70 members of POWER have outstanding microloans for expanding their farms. Mrs Liyel-Imoke hopes that 5,000 women will borrow such loans within the next two years. Financial information is not available on POWER, and it does not report to the Microfinance Information Exchange (MIX) Market.

[1] Cross River State: “Cross River 1st Lady Bags another CBN Award”, http://www.crossriverstate.gov.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=1037:cross-river-1st-lady-bags-another-cbn-award&catid=209:quick-news

[2] POWER, http://www.power-women.com/main/modules/news/article.php?storyid=5

[3] Cross River State: “Partnership Opportunity for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER)”, http://www.crossriverstate.gov.ng/index.php?option=com_content&view=article&id=872:her-excellency-power-project&catid=224&Itemid=13

MicroCapital.org story, January 27, 2011: “MICROCAPITAL BRIEF: Nigeria Federal Government Supports Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) to Establish Microfinance Development Fund”, https://www.microcapital.org/microcapital-brief-nigeria-federal-government-supports-central-bank-of-nigeria-cbn-to-establish-microfinance-development-fund/

MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Central+Bank+of+Nigeria+(CBN)

MicroCapital’s Microfinance Universe profile: Partnership Opportunities for Women Empowerment Realization (POWER), https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/tiki-index.php?page=Partnership+Opportunities+for+Women+Empowerment+Realization+(POWER)

Browse the MicroCapital Universe and add your entry to the wiki at: https://www.microcapital.org/microfinanceuniverse/

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