As part of efforts to continually advance women entrepreneurs in Nigeria, Stanbic IBTC Holdings PLC, a member of Standard Bank Group has called on women to engage in wealth building investments for the collective progress of their finances and businesses.
According to a statement, this was disclosed at the Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) June 2022 Roundtable Session themed: ‘The Woman and Her Money: Empowerment through Business, Trusts, Private Banking, StockBroking, and Insurance’.
WIMBIZ is a non-profit organisation focused on increasing and supporting the success rates of female entrepreneurs and the proportion of women in senior positions in corporate organisations and public service.
Over the years, WIMBIZ has inspired, empowered and advocated for better representation of women.
Speaking at the roundtable session, Busola Jejelowo – Executive Director, Investment Management – Stanbic IBTC Asset Management Limited, stated that despite the positive impact that women-owned businesses have on the society, there are still untapped wealth building opportunities that can be explored to improve their businesses and finances.
She said: “Despite the challenges women face, we continue to play a significant role in driving the economic, social and cultural development of our communities. In Nigeria, more than 41 per cent of small businesses in Nigeria are run by women, with over 23 million female entrepreneurs operating in this segment. Imagine if all these women begin to invest their funds in veritable assets. The returns they will get on their investments will be indeed substantial. However, many women are not aware of financial opportunities due to the low level of financial literacy in the nation. This is part of the reason why we have organised this event.”
According to her, the theme of the session is centered around how investing in Business, Trusts, StockBroking, Insurance’ and other financial properties can greatly benefit women in today’s world.
“We are proud to say that over the years, Stanbic IBTC has helped a lot of Nigerian women build sustainable wealth, despite the general economic outlook. One of our core initiatives is to organise free capacity building sessions for individuals. As people from different works of life and especially as women, we need to cultivate the habit of savings and investing our funds, which will be used to acquire assets,” she added.
The Executive Director, Clients Solution – Stanbic IBTC Bank, emphasised that the focus of the conference was to primarily build the confidence of the businesswoman in the Nigerian market and provide a platform for sensitising women on wealth creation through opportunities with alternative investments, access to business financing and working capital, use of insurance to protect their wealth and many more.