By Ugo Aliogo
As part of its plans to foster women empowerment and capacity building, AXA Mansard, a member of AXA, has collaborated with Small Medium Scale (SME) 100 Africa to empower one female business owner at the 2021 International Women’s Day Conference.
A statement by the company said the conference which was held recently, with the theme: ‘Choose to Challenge: Achieving An Equal Future in a COVID-19 World’.
The statement also noted that it was held in a hybrid (both virtual and physical) format and featured sessions from various successful female business owners such as Mrs. Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, the Chief Executive Officer, Sapphire Events Limited, and Fade Ogunro the Chief Executive Officer, Bookings Africa. It also featured a financial literacy session facilitated by AXA Mansard’s investment officer, Nneoma Mere.
The statement further explained that the highlight of the session was the business pitch session where female entrepreneurs presented their pitches and keenly competed for a prize of One Million Naira (N1, 000,000) towards their businesses.
The statement hinted that Greenhill Recycling Limited founded by Mrs. Mariam Lawani – a social enterprise that provides sustainable solutions to the waste management crisis in Nigeria through recycling and upcycling emerged as the winner of the prize.
Commenting about the pitch competition, the Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at AXA Mansard, Mrs. Olajumoke Odunlami noted that: “The pitch session was a thrilling and impactful experience for me. I am very privileged to have been a part of this session and to have seen the great things that women are doing in business. Women are the force for change and we must continue to strive to ensure that we are visible and relentless.
“AXA is committed to gender equality through implementation of gender initiatives as well as sound and inclusive policies, processes, and culture across the organisation. We believe that women are the key to progress as they are a vital force for growth and development around the world. We encourage women to take advantage of our SHE for Shield initiative which is tailored towards empowering women. Every business owner who has made a pitch here is a winner as they are all doing fantastic things with their businesses. I congratulate the winner of the prize money, Mrs. Lawani whose company is targeted at sustainability. We at AXA are strong advocates of sustainability and this is also reflected in our targets and policies.”
