As we commemorate this year’s Women’s Month, it is important to take a step back and reflect on the positive steps we have taken to create a thriving and enabling environment that promotes women’s empowerment and gender inclusion.
At Union Bank, we are committed to removing barriers and facilitating women’s success in all areas. As a corporate entity, we have given women a seat at the table and continually advocate for unhindered access to resources and platforms that encourage them to thrive. We are a socially aware and gender-sensitive organisation with inbuilt structures and corporate policy frameworks that allow women to display their immense talents and expertise in every company decision-making process. We preach and practice inclusivity, ensuring everyone, regardless of gender or social standing, can shine and progress in their careers.
At Union Bank, celebrating Women’s Month and International Women’s Day is not just some hollow ritual to be observed every calendar year. We understand the complex issues women face that prevent a more equitable and fairer world. Our internal Women’s network, WeHub, was initiated to solve some of these problems by building a structure explicitly targeted at women; mentoring and facilitating them with tools and resources to succeed.
As, first and foremost, a financial institution, we are aware of the barriers that prevent women from gaining access to affordable loans for their businesses, and we are proud of the achievements that our women tailored initiative- alpher have made in providing financial solutions that have built capacity and opened network opportunities to female-owned businesses in Nigeria, enabling them to grow and expand.
The recent appointment of Yetunde Oni by the Central Bank of Nigeria as Union Bank’s Chief Executive Officer/Managing Director the second in our 106-year history, will hopefully continue to encourage inclusion in the financial services industry and other sectors worldwide as we strive to build an equal and gender-balanced future.
