In its quest to expand the nation’s financial landscape in order to cater for the growing population of the underserved, Wema Bank PLC has continued to deploy multidimensional approaches to drive financial inclusion, the core of which aims to empower the womenfolk bearing in mind their critical role in the society, reports Ibrahim Apekhade Yusuf
With many people financially excluded and unbanked, most of the deposit money banks are required to fill the widening gulf in order to help achieve the ideas and ideals of financial inclusion, which is the core aim and objective outlined in the nation’s banking and financial regulations framework.
Interestingly, serving the unbanked, especially women, requires a lot of ingenuity on the part of any bank because of the peculiarity of this gender.
Thankfully, some banks have been able to apply their creative ingenuity in designing packages for such peculiar customers quite apart from maximising the opportunities afforded by some of the globally recognised events to do so.
Little wonder a bank like Wema Bank has been able to use special occasions like the International Women’s Day and other such events to show how much they care for the opposite gender judging by the plethora of financial packages on offer.
In context of the Wema Bank International Women’s Day 2024 celebration, the truth is, not many companies have thought to celebrate International Women’s Day internally, so it is commendable that Wema Bank reset that standard for all institutions. March 5th presented a unique package to female customers and staff of Wema Bank, affording them the opportunity to gain first-hand insight on the bank’s International Women’s Day 2024 topic, EmpowHERment Through Finance.
From then, the bank went on to launch the “Faces of Women at Wema Who Inspire Inclusion” Campaign, revealing elating snapshots of female staff of the bank sporting the International Women’s Day 2024 pose with wholesome smiles. These smiles have been quite consistent among Wema Bank employees, and it is worthy to establish that smiles that last that long across different people are proof of true happiness—one that reflects satisfaction can only be achieved through true joy and happiness.
The training physically and virtually brought together women from all walks of life to learn, address concerns regarding financial success and receive excellent resources designed to help them create or build sustainable sources of income, manage their finances excellently for maximum profitability and propel them towards financial stability.
This exclusive training session was taught by Smart Money Women Author and icon, Arese Ugwu, and this phenomenal interactive session left attendees refreshed, inspired and equipped to navigate financial struggles and nuances towards their success.
It is quite commendable that Wema Bank was intentional in extending this International Women’s Day celebration beyond customers to its female employees and another testament to the bank’s drive for maintaining excellent internal-external synergy is the Wema Bank He For She Award.
Wema Bank launched the He For She Award going ahead of its newly introduced SHE EMPOWERS HER Award, to celebrate men within the bank who have been instrumental in inspiring inclusion, creating viable opportunities for women and actively promoting gender inclusion.
International Women’s Day is all about women and gender equality, however, the fight for equality is not one that can be done with women alone. All hands must be on deck to bridge the gap in gender equality, which is why the Wema Bank He For She Award stands out.
Through this award, the bank recognised and awarded five male employees that actively inspire inclusion, thereby charging other men to join the fight against inequality and make individual contributions to building a more inclusive world for all.
This award process began with a population of over 400 nominees as suggested by employees across Nigeria.
Through a rigorous selection process by an internal jury, the Top 10 finalists were revealed to staff and as with the SHE EMPOWERS HER Award by Sara, the shortlisting of the top 5 winners was subject to votes—this time, cast by staff.
The award ceremony was held recently, coinciding with another unique activity in the bank’s week-long lineup; the Wema Women’s Network’s Big Sister Project’s Visit to an all-girls’ School.
The Wema Women Network (WWN) is Wema Bank’s internal support system for female employees, equipping them with knowledge, mentorship and resources to help them thrive in their personal and professional lives.
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The WWN launched the Big Sister Project at the Wema Bank International Women’s Day 2024 Event to serve as a bridge linking staff with mentors who have walked the path to guide them through their journeys.
This year, the Wema Women Network, set to celebrate the one-year anniversary of the Big Sister Project, visited an all-girls’ school to show love, empower young girls for a brighter future and inspire inclusion in line with the year’s International Women’s Day theme; essentially beginning the Big Sister Project’s anniversary celebration by giving back and being big sisters to young Nigerian girls.
All these activities were perfectly executed by Wema Bank before the main event on March 8th, where they put up the D-day International Women’s Day post and further hosted Nigeria’s biggest International Women’s Day conference, the Wema Bank International Women’s Day 2024 Event. “Did they have to do all of this?” you may ask. The truth is, they didn’t. They could have posted on March 8th and called it a day. They could have simply highlighted the exclusive benefits that their women-focused initiative, SARA by Wema, offers to women and ended there, but they didn’t. With each activity, they exceeded all expectations and raised the bar, exploring the theme in different innovative ways and empowering young girls and women across Nigeria to take charge of their unique situations and maximise their potential, and this is exactly what the world needs.
The world needs more brands that are more than willing to go the extra mile to promote significant values, empower individuals and businesses, foster national development and aid the achievement of global goals. We need brands that take on the responsibility of doing much more than they are obliged to, making the extra moves to achieve increased impact, doing all that matters and building their institutions beyond mere service providers, to become support systems.
The fact is this, global development is a goal that every person, group, institution, and nation must work together to achieve.
With brands like Wema Bank raising the bar and resetting the standards, especially in terms of gender equality, more societal impact is sure to follow not just from this pioneering bank but from other brands across diverse fields.
Through their diverse services designed for various aspects of women’s lives, SARA’s unique offerings, their elaborate celebrations, and multidimensional approaches to promoting inclusion, one thing is abundantly clear.
Topping all International Women’s Day celebrations this year and beyond, Wema Bank seems to be daring other brands to intensify their efforts and work actively towards bringing more women on board the journey to national development, boosting the Nigerian economy, and placing Nigeria on the international map.
The journey to gender equality and inclusion is a continuous one that requires lifelong dedication—one that Wema Bank has demonstrated.
The bank has shown that much more is achievable when brands pull their weight, and now, the onus is on other brands to level up their efforts, meet or beat the standards that Wema Bank has set and become agents of positive change to take our women, our country and our world to unbelievable heights of success.
Justifying the need for the bank’s offering, Moruf Oseni, managing director/CEO, Wema Bank plc, while speaking at the She Empowers Her Award by SARA, said the bank would remain deliberate in its continuous support, promotion and empowerment of women to reach their set goals.
According to him, the bank earmarked N8.9 billion as uncollateralised loans and also supported Nigerian businesses run by women.
“Let’s talk about their (women) offerings here and why it’s important to commit to these. The first thing we need to talk about is why support women? It’s extremely important. I’ve never seen a plane that will fly on one wing. It’s important to ensure that there’s inclusion and equality in the workplace for women. We are very deliberate in WEMA, as we make sure we recruit a good number of women.
“We make sure women are guided through their career. We also ensure we create an enabling environment for them and they’re not disadvantaged against the men. But we want to show that we’re not just talking about it, we want to put our words to action.
According to Oseni, there is a proposition Wema Bank has specifically for women called SARA for Women.
“That is why we do these kinds of programmes. This is just one of the events we do. There’s a proposition we have specifically for women called SARA for Women. And in that proposition, we have a lot of products, which includes mentoring and coaching.
“It’s important that we put our money where our mouth is. Quite a number of businesses we also curate and we finance are also for women. But it’s not just giving them financing, we’re making sure that those businesses are successful and they’re able to have societal impact.”
Also speaking, Oluwayemisi Olorunshola, chairman Wema Bank Board of Directors, stated that the bank’s female focused proposition, SARA has transformed many lives, providing physical, financial, intellectual and other relevant resources for their personal and professional success.
Olorunsola asserted that “Wema Bank recognises the indispensable role of women in shaping a prosperous society. Celebrating women aligns with the bank’s commitment to fostering an inclusive environm.
