Lafarge Africa, Access Bank advocate more women in manufacturing sector

Elias Igbin-Akenzua, executive director, Access Bank Plc has called on women to fill the approximately 600, 000 job vacancy in the manufacturing industry at the Access Bank’s ‘W Initiative’ workshop which held in partnership with Lafarge Africa Plc recently in Lagos.

The event saw some of Nigeria’s leading women professionals in manufacturing discuss issues of gender disparities in the manufacturing sector, while demonstrating the conviction of having women in manufacturing because it is good for business.

Setting the pace for discussions at the workshop, Igbin-Akenzua declared, “Approximately 600,000 manufacturing jobs are unfilled because companies cannot find qualified workers to fill them. Women are critical to filling this gap and we must empower them to do so. We must also reduce the barriers for women in manufacturing in accessing funds from financial institutions for those who may want to transit from employees to manufacturing business owners.”

Speaking at the same event, Adepeju Adebajo, MD Geocycle, Lafarge Africa Plc, remarked that women represent manufacturing’s largest pool of untapped talent, and the dearth of women in the sector is more prominent recently due to the potential skills shortage facing the industry.

“Women have become leading industrilist.

MABEL DIMMA