Vicky Haastrup, chairman, Seaport Terminal Operators Association of Nigeria (STOAN), has won the Women International Shipping and Trading Association (WISTA) Nigeria Personality of the Year award.
The award was conferred on her at the 2019 Annual Business Luncheon and 25th anniversary of WISTA Nigeria, held in Lagos last week.
Haastrup, who doubles as the executive vice chairman/CEO of ENL Consortium Nigeria Limited, made case for participation of more women in shipping business to bridge gender gap in the industry.
Noting that there seems to be improvement in the level of women participation in the sector, she said there was need for more women to come onboard especially in seafaring and freight forwarding professions.
“If we have more women participate in shipping, the sector will be better modernised because people always have more confidence in women and the industry will be better for it. Those of us, who have been operating in the industry, should encourage younger women and support them,” she said.
On her part, Hadiza Bala-Usman, managing director of the Nigerian Ports Authority (NPA), urged women to collectively aspire and to work towards balancing gender gap.
Read also: How Nigerian ports will benefit from NPA’s new pact with Port of Antwerp
Usman, who was represented by general manager in charge of managing director’s office, Chinwe Abama, said gender balancing would enable women get fair advancement that equals their qualifications and experience.
“Women are not asking for equality in terms of power with men but for equal opportunities because they are greatly endowed with special qualities. Institutions with more women leaders have better performance and achieve higher economic growth,” she said.
Usman said when a woman is empowered, that invariably empowers a whole generation that will benefit from the quality of leadership that is exceptional to women.
“Emphasis should be laid on innovation. Women should be enabled to discover themselves, build personal and corporate brands identity that differentiates them in society. This helps to make them not only unique and authentic but to visibly rise into role of leadership and influential positions,” Usman said.
Urging women to come out of their shells, Mary Hamman, President of WISTA Nigeria, said most aspects of shipping have been computerised, and women could stay in their homes to participate in the industry.
Emeka Akabogu, maritime lawyer, stated that women who aspire to take up leadership positions must be willing to face the challenges that would come with equal opportunity with their male counterparts.
