Economic emancipation key to leading change for women – Chisha

To lead the change for the future generation, women of this generation need to fight for the economic emancipation of the female gender, Shiphra Chisha, president and co-founder of African Women in Business (AWIB), has said.

“I have firm beliefs that women before us fought for political emancipation and it is this generation that will fight for economic emancipation. A new decade of women is going to pass and our daughters are going to ask us: ‘Mummy, you were there, what did you do?’” she said.

Chisha was the keynote speaker at the 11th edition of BusinessDay Inspiring Woman Series held on Thursday in Lagos, with the theme ‘Leading the change: My story, my role, my expectation’.

The focus of the women’s conference was to inspire other women through the stories of the speakers. Other dignitaries at the event include Olori Atuwatse III, queen consort of the Warri Kingdom and Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, federal commissioner national commission for refugees, migrants and internally displaced persons.

Chisha explained that over the years, she has come to realise that women are key to the economic development of their countries.

“I have over the past 30 years always been a firm believer that until we provide opportunities to women for social economic development things will always remain the same,” she said.

She said the global scale of women’s financial exclusion makes it clear that there is a need to focus on women to achieve universal financial success.

“I always say to the banks that I know that they are in the business of making money but women are your next emerging market, they need to expand access to finance for women, and seek to fund for women, we need to push toward universal inclusion, we need to think about incentives we can provide to cater for women because margins are small and they require more upfront investments,” she said.

Chisha said changing the social norms and the constraints on women’s demand for financial services, and providing women with access to technology as it is an enabler of education, employment, and entrepreneurship would bring about change.

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“We need to challenge banks’ misconceptions about women’s needs,” she added.

Kemi Ajumobi, the convener and associate editor of Businessday, in her welcome address, expressed her gratitude to women who were present.

“We see your strength; I celebrate that you are here. To tired women whose work pace doesn’t look like it, and who have friends that have moved further than them, I want to let you know that you are doing well and our steps are not the same, and as long as you are moving and you are headed to the right direction, the goal is going to be achieved,” Ajumobi said.

Sola Adesakin, lead coach and founder of Smart Stewards and The Smart Investment Club, spoke on women leading the change with their finances.

“We need to become aware of the economic issues and get familiar with what’s happening around the world and embrace financial literacy,” she said.