International Women’s Day: CBN Gov. seeks gender parity

The Governor of the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Mr. Godwin Emefiele, has felicitated with Nigerian women on on International Women’s Day.Information Guide Nigeria

Emefiele called for more engaging conversations on how women can leverage technology and innovation to bridge the digital gender gap.

CHAMPION NEWS reports that he said this in his keynote address at the CBN IWD webinar to commemorate the International Women’s Day Celebration on March 23, 2023.

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Speaking on the theme of the celebration, “Digitise Her: bridging the digital gender gap for financial inclusion and sustainable growth”, he noted that digital financial services had become a critical dependency in the economy, providing vast opportunities to bridge the digital gender gap, drive financial inclusion and increase employment and economic opportunities for women.

Governor Emefiele, reiterated the CBN’s commitment to promoting gender equality and financial inclusion among women through such policies as the Micro Small and Medium Enterprises Development Fund (MSMEDF), which dedicates 60 per cent of the funding under the scheme to women-owned enterprises, the Framework for Advancing Women’s Financial Inclusion in Nigeria, which seeks to address gender gaps in access to finance, targeted onboarding of women on its central bank digital currency, the e-Naira, amongst others.

The Deputy Governor, Financial System Stability (FSS), Mrs. Aishah N. Ahmad who hosted the Coffee Table Chat with Dr. Omobola Johnson, called for broad private and public sector commitment to gender parity and ensuring that women, youth and rural dwellers have access to digital financial services.

She noted that despite increased digital mainstreaming, women were less likely than men to have access to technology, creating a digital gender gap which perpetuates women’s economic exclusion. She reasoned that digital innovation could be the missing link and a winning strategy for fixing the parity problem and deepening access to financial services.

The Special Guest Speaker, Dr. Omobola Johnson, a Senior Partner with TLcom Capital and Nigeria’s pioneer Minister of Communications Technology, emphasized that inclusive innovation that is gender sensitive was critical to reducing the gender exclusion gap.

CHAMPION NEWS reports that Omobola Johnson highlighted the potential for digital financial services to enable not just financial services but important interventions in health, agriculture and SMEs. She, therefore, urged men to be deliberate in mentoring high-achieving women and their daughters in their pursuit of male-dominated careers like STEM.JAMB Result

Also speaking, the Minister of State for Industry, Trade and Investment, Mariam Katagum, commended the CBN for its efforts at enhancing financial inclusion, she disclosed that CBN and some agencies of government, such as the Bank of Industry (BOI), Industrial Training Fund (ITF), and the Small and Medium Enterprise Development Agency of Nigeria (SMEDAN), have special funds that women can access for support.

CHAMPION NEWS reports that, the webinar had in attendance more than 1,000 participants across diverse sectors of the Nigerian economy, including other Deputy Governors and departmental Directors of the Bank.

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