The Federal Ministry of Women Affairs has announced a strategic partnership with WEMA Bank Plc to empower 500,000 women across Nigeria’s six geo-political zones. The initiative aims to improve the livelihoods of women through skill acquisition, agriculture, grants, and loans. A significant portion of WEMA Bank’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) will also be dedicated to women-focused programs.
This collaboration was revealed in a statement signed by the Ministry’s Head of Information and Public Relations, Mrs. Grace Njoku, and posted on the Ministry’s X (formerly Twitter) handle on Wednesday. The initiative will be carried out under the Ministry’s women cluster arrangement.
The Honourable Minister of Women Affairs, Barrister (Mrs.) Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, highlighted during a meeting with WEMA Bank officials on Monday that their collaboration supports President Bola Ahmed Tinubu’s Renewed Hope Agenda, which focuses on tackling poverty, unemployment, and enhancing living conditions nationwide.
She highlighted the significance of empowering women economically, saying, “Enhancing women’s skills, facilitating access to grants and loans, and equipping them with business tools will produce substantial benefits. Given that women and children represent 70% of Nigeria’s population, this initiative is vital for alleviating poverty, preventing early marriages, and combating domestic violence.”
She emphasized that empowering women, particularly at the community level, in sectors like agriculture, food production, and sewing would help decrease school dropouts and incidents of sexual and gender-based violence. “Women will be able to make significant contributions to the progress of their families and the country as a whole,” she remarked.
Ohanenye encouraged WEMA Bank and other organizations to focus on women’s empowerment in their initiatives to secure a better future for the nation.
During his speech, Mr. Moruf Oseni, Managing Director of WEMA Bank, represented by Mr. Tunde Mabawonku, Executive Director of Retail and Digital, emphasized the bank’s dedication to empowering women via the Ministry’s initiatives. He also promised that part of the bank’s corporate social responsibility efforts would focus on improving the economic status of Nigerian women through the MOWA-SARA Accelerator Program.
