We have developed a systemic thinking approach by adopting a mindset about organizations working together and across sectors; breaking down silos, to advance the global goals and our corporate objectives. We are leveraging these partnerships for effective planning, implementation and execution of our women empowerment initiatives. Our different partnerships for women empowerment as well as sponsorships are explained below.
We partnered with SheCan Nigeria to empower Nigerian women through skill empowerment, networking opportunities and capacity building. We also supported about 10,000 women leveraging on this partnership.
- We partnered with Ekiti state Government to organize a capacity building program for their women. We enlightened the participants on the importance of being financially independent and other ways to strategically position for power and leadership at the lowest level.
- The Bank partnered with the First Lady of Niger state, through her Non-Governmental Agency, Raise Foundation to commemorate the Breast Cancer Awareness month. We supported this cause by creating awareness for cancer and offering free breast and cervical cancer screening for women in the state.
- The Bank partnered with the First Lady of Niger state, through her Non-Governmental Organization, RAISE Foundation to conduct repair surgeries for women living with Vesicovaginal Fistula (VVF) about 20 women benefited from this partnership. In the same vein, we also organized free breast and cervical cancer screening for women in the state leveraging on the breast cancer awareness month.
We partnered with this organization to commemorate the International girl child day in October. The objective of this celebration was to give back to the girlchild through knowledge and resource sharing.
The Bank developed its first vibrant female proposition targetted at empowering every female customer to achieve their potentials through mentorship & capacity building programs, networking opportunities and access to concessionary loans.
We have achieved this through partnership with organisations, webinars, collaboration with some of our key stakeholders to train women and providing opportunities for women to grow their career and business. We intend to drive this initiative across all our regions reaching the bottom of the pyramid in addressing our women’s wants.
We have an internal network of women with a focus on building well-rounded women, to ultimately increase visibility, participation, career skills, personal development and knowledge in business and finance. We are also developing a vibrant online presence where we have discussions on etiquette, fashion and style, social graces, dealing with customers, gender-related issues and other topics that interest women.
We believe in birthing dreams and nurturing talents, especially for young girls. In partnership with Ventures Garden Group, an all-female coding event was organized and over 100 young girls participated. New innovative solutions were developed, and the participant are currently being nurtured for growth.
In 2018, we identified young women transforming small businesses in Nigeria using technology. We have tagged these women as Tech-Chics. These women are our ambassadors and mentors to other young women starting or running tech-related services. One of the Tech-Chicks Abisoye Akinfolarin, was nominated for the 2018 CNN Heroes Awards.