The Governor, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, on Thursday disclosed that the apex bank had issued gender-mandated regulations to pave way for gender diversity and inclusiveness at the top management levels in the Nigerian banking industry,
This is even as he declared that the CBN had also surpassed the affirmative action with 32% of the total workforce being female.
Emefiele gave these hints while addressing participants at a webinar hosted by the Deputy Governor in charge of the Financial System Stability (FSS) Directorate, Mrs. Aisha Ahmad, as part of activities to mark the 2022 International Women’s Day (IWD) at the CBN.
He reiterated that the CBN had also issued a policy that requires a minimum of 30% of female representation on boards and 40% at the top management level in the banking Industry, adding that this aligns with the National Financial Inclusion Strategy (NFIS), which recommends increasing female staff of microfinance banks to 30%.
According to him, the apex bank, in its efforts to increase representation of women in the industry has been using the gender diversity model as part of the criteria for approving the membership of boards of institutions under its regulatory purview.
The foremost banker stressed that such gender mandates were necessary to breaking the bias in the Nigerian banking industry, stressing that eight out of the 23 bank CEOs, representing 35 percent, were women, which was way above the global average.
Speaking on the theme: “Gender Equality Today for a Sustainable Tomorrow”, in recognition of the significance of empowering women to be part of the solution to the climate change crisis, the CBN governor emphasized that the campaign theme for 2022 ‘#BreakTheBias’ was aimed at improving awareness on the persistent bias and discrimination in communities, workplaces, schools and the society in order to create a “gender equal world” that is “diverse, equitable and inclusive”.
Emefiele explained that the apex bank had “demonstrated its commitment to diversity and inclusiveness by designing and implementing a wide variety of initiatives, programmes and interventions to promote entrepreneurship, reduce poverty, generate employment and deepen financial inclusion for women.”
According to him, females have benefitted hugely from the apex bank’s intervention programmes such as the Agribusiness Small and Medium Enterprise Investment Scheme (AGSMEIS) and the COVID-19 Targeted Credit Facility (TCF).
Specifically, he explained that out of N134.67 billion disbursed to 37,273 AGSMEIS beneficiaries, as of January 2022, 33% (N44.1 billion) went to 12,511 female beneficiaries.
Similarly, Emefiele said that out of N349.51 billion disbursed to 712,442 total beneficiaries under the TCF, 45% (N159.21 billion) was disbursed to 330,128 female beneficiaries, adding that the MSME Development Fund (MSMEDF) was designed to allocate at least 60% of the fund to women and women-owned enterprises of which 60.3% of the of 229,579 beneficiaries are women.
He further expatiated that out of the 211,306 financial statements currently registered in the collateral registry, 92,091, representing 43.6% were female borrowers.
Earlier in her welcome remarks, the Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability (FSS) Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, expressed appreciation to the Governor and other Deputy Governors for their constant support towards women and their well being.
She said that the commemoration of the International Women’s Day was an opportunity to celebrate women for their progress, achievements and their contributions to the society.
Speaking on the campaign theme of this year’s celebrations, she noted that age, ethnicity, religion and other biases had to be broken for women to realize and fulfil their full potential without which a sustainable future would not be achievable.
In her keynote, the Second Deputy Governor, Bank of Ghana, Mrs. Elsie Addo Awadzie, challenged women to change the narratives in their minds and break the biases they had created against themselves.
She also urged women to believe in one another, support one another and mentor one another in order to lift up one another and also stressed the need to consciously and intentionally seek alliances and support when necessary and to cultivate meaningful relationships towards mutual respect and consideration.
