• Thursday, March 28, 2024
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Eleje becomes first Nigerian woman to have her signature on naira note

Naira

Since the Nigerian naira was introduced in January 1973, Priscilla Eleje has become the first woman to have her signature on the currency note.

This is part of the move by the Central bank of Nigeria (CBN) led by Godwin Emefiele to address gender disparity in the institution.

The CBN governor said last month that the bank has made remarkable progress in closing the gender gap in the institution.

“It is heartening that today, women represent 29 percent of CBN staff and 29percent of directors are women. Eight departmental directors and one Director General of WAMZ as against 26percent of staff and 25 percent of directors in 2014. Similarly, three out of 11 board members are women (27 percent),” Emefiele said at the recent CBN 2019 Commemoration of the International Women’s Day (IWD).

Currently the director of currency at the apex bank, Eleje, is the first woman to occupy that position in the history of the bank. BusinessDay checks revealed that her signature has been appended on the 1000 naira note, making her a two-record holder in the history of the institution.

Although evidence shows that gender equality remained a driver of economic growth and prerequisite for achieving the Sustainable Development Goals (the 2030 global development agenda), progress in gender parity had been slow.

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Before Eleje, Ladi Kwali, a renowned Nigerian potter was the only woman on the naira, taking a spot at the back of the N20 note but the former becomes the second on the country’s currency and first to have her signature on the currency of Africa’s most populous nation.

According to McKinsey, an American management consulting firm, if women’s economic participation was at the same level as men, $28 trillion could be added to the world’s economic growth by 2025.

“There is an average of 32 percent gender gap that needs to be closed, and going by the trend, the overall global gender gap will close in 108 years,” the 2018 World Economic Forum Gender Gap Report said.

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Emefiele however stated that, a lot more still need to be done to achieve parity in the central bank despite the fact that gender diversity in the institution had improved over the years.

“We are celebrating a milestone today because of the progress made to address gender disparities in CBN. Actions taken by the bank to advance equality in the workplace include training and skills development, increased employment and leadership positions for women, diversity and inclusion initiatives, supporting female employees.” Emefiele said this was to enable women balance work and family life, and to increase their knowledge and skills that are necessary for achieving organizational goals and objectives.

The International Monetary Fund (IMF) 2018 survey revealed that greater inclusion of women as users, providers, and regulators of financial services have benefits beyond addressing gender inequality.

It said narrowing the gender gap would foster greater stability in the banking system and enhance economic growth.

According to the Fund, it could also contribute to more effective monetary and fiscal policy.

“Gender gap in leadership does make a difference when it comes to bank stability. Banks with higher proportion of women board members had higher capital buffers, a lower ratio of nonperforming loans, and greater resistance to stress,” the Washington-Based international organization said.

Eleje was reportedly confirmed Substantive Director of CBN on August 30, 2018, and currency notes printed from then on will carry her signature.

She is an alumnus of the prestigious Hubert H. Humphrey Fellowship programme in Banking and Management at Boston University, Massachusetts, USA. The director is also a Certified Information System Auditor (CISA) who is a psychology graduate of the University of Jos, Nigeria.

According to IMF chair, Christine Lagarde, adding one more woman in a firm’s senior management or corporate board-while keeping the size of the board unchanged-is associated with an 8–13 basis point higher return on assets. “If banks and financial supervisors increased the share of women in senior positions, the banking sector would be more stable too,” she said.