For greater participation of women in the Nigerian finance industry, 100 Women in Finance (100WF), A global organisation has made a call to action.
The Chief Executive Officer, 100 Women in Finance, Amanda Pullingger, made the call during her opening remarks at a networking breakfast in Lagos.
She applauded Nigerian women for their role in promoting the cause of women in the financial industry, confessing the percentage of Nigerian women in the industry is higher than that of the UK and the US.
According to Pullingger, 100 Women in Finance is currently in 28 locations around the world.
She said, “Our mission is to empower women in the industry, but also to inspire the next generation of pre-career women. In the last two years, we have developed a pre-career programme and also given grants to organisations in various locations that are giving girls the skills and confidence they need to come into the industry. They piloted a programme called ‘Jumpstart’.
“This is a pre-internship programme for female university students in their first and second year; the goal is to introduce these women to the industry. There are three modules to it.”
“The first part is to pave way for the next young generation women. The second part is what the roles in the industry are and the third part is how you prepare for this industry,” Pullinger added.
The Chairman of the Board of Ecobank, Mrs Bola Adesola, spoke about the advantages of peer groups, saying she had been a beneficiary throughout her career.
According to her, the benefits of peer groups are links, leaning and learning, lobby, lifting, and legacy.
She said women should be strategic about how they project themselves, stressing the need for them to be purposeful and impactful.
Speaking on the sidelines with our correspondent, the British Deputy High Commissioner in Lagos, Ben Llewellyn-Jones, said the UK government was pleased to associate with the 100 Women in Finance, Nigerian chapter.
“We in Lagos see a lot of extremely impressive British-Nigerian women in finance. It feels like a natural connection between us and women in finance. Ours is to support them which is our objective,” she said.
The Managing Director and Chief Executive Officer, ARM Harith Infrastructure Investment Corporation, Ms Tariye Gbadegesin, said, “There are a very few equity companies led by women, but it is also important to acknowledge the progress in Nigeria with the female representation in the financial sector”.
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