Angela Onwuzoo
In its dedication to empowering women, AG Mortgage Bank Plc through its Empowering Society Through Investment in Women Project, has earmarked N100 million to provide financial opportunities and inclusion for 500, 000 women across the country.
The project in collaboration with HACEY Health Initiative, seeks to empower women by leveraging the existing groups in local communities.
Speaking at the inauguration of the project in Lagos recently, the bank’s Managing Director, Ngozi Anyogu, said the project was designed to empower women for socio-economic growth as well as the actualisation of the Sustainable Development Goals SDG 5– gender equality.
Anyogu underscored the need to deliberately adopt measures to deepen women’s empowerment to drive the nation’s socio-economic growth.
Citing the strategic role of women in nation-building, the professional banker said the ES-TIW project would be piloted in Lagos, Abuja, Edo, Delta, and Abia states, with plans to expand its footprint to others soon.
He said, “Women represent the group most influenced by government policies because of the pivotal role they play in the family. Such an economically powerful group cannot be ignored but rather deployed to catalyse the overall economy.”
Anyogu affirmed that the goal of the project would be achieved through business development, healthcare access, community engagement, financial inclusion and digital literacy.
“These skills shall ultimately contribute to the overall socio-economic well-being and resilience of the nation”, he added.
The managing director said the firm had a gender-friendly policy.
He noted, “Our managerial environment is gender-friendly such that it unlocks the potential of women, protects their dignity and creates necessary balance in their lives.
“The policy of the bank is to give 40 per cent of leadership roles to women, including executive and senior management positions and headship of Board and Management committees.”
In her remarks, Executive Director of HACEY Health Initiative, Rhoda Robinson, who expressed delight over the partnership with the bank to further empower Nigerian women, said the right kind of partnership was needed to achieve sustainable impact in women empowerment.
“AG Mortgage Bank was looking for a partner who shared that vision to empower women and to bring women to the right level of employment and financial capability that they need to be able to contribute to society.
“HACEY was also looking for a partner who shared the vision of women being empowered. We have a framework and a strategy to reach 500,000 women with information, health access, financial products, and funding for women to make financially sound decisions, savings, and investments”, she said.
Robinson said the key pillars of the project include providing nano and micro loans for the women, stating, “We have women in very underserved communities”
She further stated,” We are targeting both the women at the bottom of the pyramid and the women on top of the pyramid to ensure that everyone has equal access to resources.
“We would provide healthcare access and information to help women understand how to care for their health and invest. Through this programme, we will engage in a lot of community engagement and outreach to ensure that women have access to health resources and connect with healthcare providers when they need it.
“This is because we recognise that health expenses are one of the leading expenses that women and families spend on, and as such, it digs into their savings.”
She maintained that the template was targeted to support women.
“It is women supporting women, it is women empowering women, it is women ensuring that their businesses run, and they understand profit and investment as well. Incorporating group support and financial literacy”, she reiterated.
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