The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) has reiterated the role of technology in ensuring that women get the right skills and knowledge in careers and business development.
Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability, Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, said the financial system is critical to addressing the gender divide, being the centre point for promoting integration and digital services.
Mrs. Ahmad spoke at the inaugural FITC Top Women in Tech list unveiled by the Financial Institutions Training Centre (FITC) as part of its International Women’s Day (IWD) celebration in Lagos.
Mrs. Ahmad, who was represented by Deputy Director, Other Financial Institutions Department, CBN, Mrs. Monsurat Vincent, noted that education could make it easier to promote equity.
“Technology, through the Internet, has made it easier than ever before for women to access educational resources and learn new skills. Women can now gain knowledge and expertise that may have once been out of their reach,” Mrs Ahmad, who is also the Chairman, FITC Board, said.
Furthermore, she highlighted some of the significant efforts that were being made to close the gender gap, such as the national gender policy, which recommends a 35 per cent affirmative action for women, to ensure a more inclusive representation of women in elective and appointive positions, thus leading to recent significant strides in this regard, such as in the financial services sector, where at least eight women have emerged as CEOs of top financial institutions. One of the goals of this initiative is to increase the number of women in management positions.
“The Central Bank of Nigeria, as part of its women empowerment efforts, has also allocated 60 per cent of the Small and Medium Enterprises (SME) funds to women-owned enterprises and continues to develop guidelines to promote gender diversity and women’s access to economic opportunities,” she added.
The Managing Director/Chief Executive Officer, FITC, Ms. Chizor Malize, noted that the focus of the IWD for this year, which is #EmbracingEquity, and the theme themed DigitALL: Innovation and Technology as Enablers for Gender Equality were calls to have inclusive and transformative technology and digital education for women and girls.
She said the move was crucial for a sustainable future, as advancements in digital technology offer immense opportunities to address development and humanitarian challenges, and to close the inequality gap.
“Bringing women and other marginalised groups into technology results in more creative solutions and has greater potential for innovations that meet women’s needs and promote gender equality,” Malize said.
She added: “The tech industry has come a long way in terms of gender equality, with several women making outstanding innovative and technological contributions that have impacted several industries, but there is still a lot of work to be done because women make up only 25 per cent of the tech industry and only five per cent of leadership positions in this industry are held by women.”
Non-Executive Director, Stanbic IBTC Bank, Rabi Isma, reiterated that technology helps to ensure that the woman who wants to stay home to cater to the kids could still launch a business in the comfort of her home, thereby making it possible for women to access the world from anywhere, run their businesses, and spread their products and services.
She listed the challenges that women face in rural areas, as the lack of access to a mobile device, a tool needed to tap into the technology benefits for personal and enterprise development.
Co-founder/Chief Operating Officer (COO), Semicolon, Ashley Immanuel, highlighted the importance of data, and the need to use data for the achievement of gender equity.
“Data is critical. It is easy for decision makers to assume that everyone has access to basic resources such as a mobile device, but data shows that this is not the case. Data has revealed that more access to technology is still required in several areas of the country, and there are still wide gender gaps in access to technology,” she noted.
She further said data shows that there is a gap in the education, financial, and technology sectors, among others. She said research shows a significant representation of women at lower levels, but as one goes up the corporate ladder, their representation becomes less evident. She said data is required to show these gaps and provide insights for policy formulation targeted at gender parity.
The Team Lead, Strategy and Governance Advisory, FITC, Ebuka Emebinah, called for a change of mindset from the classroom to the boardroom.
He stated that women make up only 22 per cent of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) graduates from universities in Nigeria, a gap from 50 per cent in the United States, thereby leading to a lower level of female representation in the tech workforce.
There, therefore, has to be efforts to catch them young, and provide a conducive environment, he said.
Founder, The Experience Plug Systems (TEPS), Tobi Olanihun, said leveraging technology does not have to be about the big tools. She urged entrepreneurs to start small and leverage even the social media platforms to scale their businesses. “There are so many free project management and digital tools online that entrepreneurs can leverage to amplify themselves, their businesses, and any cause they are trying to amplify, start small and scale from there,” she said.
In closing, Malize reiterated that the role of men in achieving gender equity is critical, be it in encouraging their female counterparts, sending opportunities their way, or assisting with career development. She also charged everyone to continue to do their part in ensuring equity is achieved and to keep deliberately and innovatively driving change within their sphere of influence.
Malize said top 50 female tech leaders released by the company, were painstakingly selected focusing on critical factors such as innovation, leadership, and societal impact, with a notable focus on technology for good.
Speaking on the list, Malize extolled the contributions of the female tech leaders “they are distinguished for leading transformational change in their various organizations and sectors. They have leveraged technology to drive innovation, solution design, and customer experience, putting technology at the center of their operations. They have demonstrated tremendous capacity through their contributions to corporate growth and societal development leveraging technology and innovation” said Malize.
“The FITC 50 Women in Tech list features three generations of women who are leading positions in business and corporations, and entrepreneurs who have set up impactful businesses bringing solutions to societal problems through their vision. In recognizing their giant stride, we are confident that their stories would inspire and birth a pipeline of new entrants and a next generation of female technology leaders,” Malize enthused.
The list, which was intentionally unranked, includes movers and shakers such as Funke Opeke, Founder/CEO, Main One Cable; Nkemdilim Begho, MD/CEO, Future Software Resources Ltd.; Juliet Ehimuan, Country Director, Google; Amy Jaiyesimi, CEO, LADPOL; Yemi Keri, Chief Executive Officer, Heckerbella Limited; Kofo Akinkugbe, Founder CEO, Secure ID; Foluso Gbadamosi, Executive Director, Junior Achievement Nigeria; Wunmi Faiga, Chief Information Security Officer, NIBSS; Olatomiwa Williams, Country Manager, Microsoft; Favour Femi Oyewole, Chief Information Security Officer, Access Bank; Dr. Yinka David West, Director, (SIDFS), Associate Dean & Professor of Information Systems, Lagos Business School; Temie Giwa Tubosun, Founder/CEO, LifeBank; Vanessa C. Malize, Technical Program Manager, Expedia Group; Confidence Staveley, Founder & Executive Director, Cybersafe Foundation among others.
