Wema Bank Partners FG to Empower 500,000 Women 

To promote gender equality and economic empowerment, Wema Bank has partnered the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to launch the MOWA-SARA Accelerator Programme. 

The initiative aims to equip 500,000 women across Nigeria with vital vocational and business management skills.

This was disclosed at a Memorandum of Understanding signing ceremony at the Ministry of Women Affairs in Abuja.

The 24-month programme is designed to bridge the gender inclusion gap by providing women with access to finance, market, networking opportunities, and healthcare. 

According to the bank’s Executive Director of Retail and Digital, Tunde Mabawonku, “Nigeria’s ever-evolving macroeconomic landscape calls for an acutely intentional approach to providing tailored solutions and opportunities to empower our people, especially women.”

Mabawonku emphasised the programme’s potential to empower women to thrive in Nigeria’s challenging economic landscape. 

“Our goal is to help women navigate the challenging economic terrain by providing them with skills for self-employment, resources for productivity, and support for success.

“We understand this need as captured in our mission of empowering lives through innovation and we are very intentional about tailoring our empowerment efforts to the needs of our diverse customer demographics. 

“This commitment is evident in our solutions, partnerships, products, initiatives, and propositions; one of which is SARA by Wema.

 “I encourage every woman out there who is willing to learn a skill with potential for income generation, to register for the MOWA x SARA Accelerator Programme.”

The MOWA-SARA Accelerator Programme will cover 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory, focusing on vocational skills such as food processing, fashion designing, and hairdressing, as well as business management skills.

The programme’s structure includes five-day in-person training sessions organised into eight cohorts, with the initial pilot phase starting in Anambra, Ekiti, and Kano.

Minister for Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye, stressed the importance of empowering women to address prevalent challenges faced due to gender inequality. 

“I believe that if we empower women and they start making money, a lot of challenges will be averted.”

Kennedy-Ohanenye commended Wema Bank’s commitment to women’s empowerment.

 “This partnership extends beyond the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to Nigerian women, and our goal is to ensure sustainability of women empowerment initiatives.”