The Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) and Bankers’ Committee have affirmed that 40 per cent of top management positions in banks be reserved for women.

CBN Governor Godwin Emefiele made this known on Thursday at a commemorative webinar hosted by the bank’s Deputy Governor in charge of Financial System Stability, Mrs. Aishah Ahmad, as part of activities to mark the 2021 International Women’s Day.

Speaking on the theme: “Women in leadership: Achieving an equal future in a COVID-19 world”, Emefiele said 30 per cent representation for women in boards of Deposit Money Banks (DMBs) is also being pursued.

He urged stakeholders in private and public organisations to ensure all round gender development and equal opportunities, to increase the number of women in leadership positions in Nigeria and across the world.

The CBN boss restated the bank’s commitment to continually promote gender diversity in the workplace, empower women and increase their active participation in the economy.

He said the CBN recognised the potential of female leaders in different organisations and the Nigerian economy at large, hence it ensured equal opportunities for both male and female staff across every cadre in the bank.

Emefiele stressed the need to have appropriate policies in place in addition to making the right investments in programmes and services to promote women’s leadership and gender parity so as to enable them to contribute to the economy.

He said there was overwhelming evidence that organisations with a high level of female participation fared better than others.

In her keynote address, Executive Resident at the University of Oxford and former Treasurer and Vice President at the World Bank Ms. Arunma Otteh highlighted the critical roles of leadership occupied by women, noting that women were key to societal advancement.

Making a business case for gender equity, Ms. Otteh noted that women economics was “SMART” economics, citing statistics that indicate women re-invest up to 90 per cent of their resources into their respective families and societies.

She stressed the need to critically address the challenge of security in order to earn economic prosperity, saying that women remain Nigeria’s last hope to tackling insecurity and life endangering situations.

Noting that women were hardest hit by the Corona Virus pandemic, Ms. Otteh challenged all women to strive for excellence and invest in themselves, adding that women need to do things differently, think differently and act differently. (The Nation)

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