One of the leading household brands in Nigeria, Sunlight, has restated its commitment to empower and make a significant difference to women entrepreneurs by supporting women-owned businesses in Nigeria.
Sunlight runs a programme called Shakti, an initiative whereby women in rural areas are provided products to resell to households in their communities, making a profit and generating an income stream for themselves. In addition, the brand has partnered with Leading Ladies Africa, a women-focused non-profit, to recognise women across different business spheres.
The Corporate Affairs & Sustainability Director of Unilever West Africa, Soromidayo George, while speaking during a workshop in Lagos yesterday, said the goal of the Sunlight Shakti programme is to help African women achieve financial security and move from low-income to middle-income thereby bolstering their independence.
On his part, Category Manager, Homecare, Oladapo Oshuntoye, said over 6,000 rural women have already been empowered in Nigeria since the launch of the Shakti programme in 2004 and provided seed capital in the form of Unilever products, business training and funding for women thereby improving the livelihoods of rural areas.
He stated that the vision for the Sunlight brand in Africa is to empower 500,000 women by 2025.
“We are excited to reaffirm our commitment to empowering more women in Nigeria as it truly unifies our efforts to deliver more to Nigerian women, both inside and outside the home. We look forward to launching more activities that meet African women’s different needs in business.
Across the country, Sunlight continues to do more through various programmes that empower women-owned businesses and move the needle in limiting barriers to success,” he said.
“Sunlight believes that supporting women-owned businesses across all stages of their entrepreneurial journey will help shift the general, usually limited; perception society assigns them. We want to do our part in unlocking their potential so that they can thrive and contribute to a bold narrative about women’s success both in and outside the home,” Oshuntoye said.
