The Chairman of the Board of Ecobank Nigeria Limited, Mrs Bola Adesola, has described women’s economic empowerment as a pathway to national economic growth.
The banker stated this at the 40th anniversary of the Association of Professional Women Bankers held in Lagos recently.
At the event themed ‘Banking on Women – Imperative for a Sustainable Future,’ Adesola disclosed that in the banking sector and financial services industry generally, women had made significant progress.
Adesola said, “Any nation that wants to harness its economic potential must consider women’s economic empowerment as a critical pathway to national economic growth and human capital development.
“The economic cost of women’s lack of access to their economic contributory potential is about N229bn in Nigeria alone, and of course, trillions of dollars worldwide.”
She noted that of the 133 million Nigerians who were multidimensionally poor, over 100 million were women and girls.
Speaking earlier, the President/Chairman of the Council, Chartered Institute of Bankers of Nigeria, Dr Ken Okpara, remarked that there was an increase in the number of women bankers.
Okpara said, “Report by Deloitte also showed that the financial services industry in Nigeria is leading the charge towards gender equality and inclusivity.”
The CIBN president charged APWB to take advantage of the opportunity that abounds to continue to build the capacity of its members expose and empower them to take up critical roles in the ecosystem.
During a ‘fireside chat’ between the chairperson of APWB, Funke Ladimeji and the Chairman of Heirs Holdings, Tony Elumelu, the latter identified execution, excellence, and enterprise as the important factors for his success.
Elumelu reiterated that transformation should not only be employed for profitability but also for improving lives.
He said, “Leadership is about getting things done through people. To execute your strategy, you must be able to assemble the right people, motivate and reward the people. Everything about leadership starts and ends with the people.”
Meanwhile, in her welcome address, APWB Chairperson, Funke Ladimeji, paid tribute to the founding leaders of the association and their determination to improve the number and quality of female participation in the banking sector.
Ladimeji said, “With the levels of female representation and the positive trajectory expected, combined with the many dimensions of change we are all experiencing – economically, geopolitically, socioculturally and in other dimensions, the pace of the change is rapid and the space of the change is broad.”
SOURCE: PUNCHNG
