Women engineers rally sector behind local content development

Association of Professional Women Engineers of Nigeria (APWEN) has called for improved local content in the construction and engineering sector.

President of APWEN, Dr. Elizabeth Eterigho, at the first edition of Women in Construction, Engineering and Commerce Conference (WCEC 2022) in Lagos recently, said improved interest in local content would save production cost and improve the economy.

Eterigho applauded the participants, saying that such programmes would expand their scope of operation by leveraging on benefits embedded in the African Continent Free Trade Area (AfCFTA).

“The Elan Expo is a catalyst for change that is needed in the construction, Engineering and commerce sectors in the country and the globe generally,” she said.

According to Eterigho, such programmes create an avenue to enhance creativity, resilience and local content in the construction and engineering sector.

She emphasised on the need to create and provide an enabling environment and opportunity for women in this field for sustainable growth in their businesses.

“It is a time to connect and collaborate with colleagues and mentors that will open us up to the best route to maximising the great opportunities in these sectors, providing an enabling platform to share creative and innovative market ideas and intelligence on providing engineering services to the large market.

“I believe the time is now for women in construction, engineering and commerce to wake up and take the right actions to tackle challenges confronting these industries because we are greatly endowed with innovations that can help solve the present challenges in the world,” she said.