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In recognition of its multi-award-winning programme for empowering women, Access Bank Plc was conferred last month the Outstanding Female Friendly Bank of the Year award at the 2020 Women in Marketing and Communications Conference/Awards (WIMCA). Access Bank won the award for the third time in a row after winning the 2018 and 2019 editions.  

WIMCA is organised annually by Brand Communicator, a Nigeria-based brands and marketing publication, as a platform for discussing contemporary trends and issues affecting women in the marketing and communication industry. It is also a platform for recognising outstanding women and corporate organisations for their contributions to the growth of the industry in Nigeria and the country as a whole.

WIMCA 2020 was held on November 13 as a hybrid event, which combined a virtual component with a live in-person event in compliance with COVID-19 social distancing protocols. The award given to Access Bank was a further recognition of the bank's leadership in providing a holistic platform for empowering women and for championing gender diversity and inclusion.

As part of its sustainability strategy, Access Bank established the W Initiative in 2014 to provide a suite of solutions to enhance the lifestyle needs of women in various economic segments and industries. Through this Initiative, the bank says it has created equal opportunities for women across the country to access loans and credit facilities and by implementing several programmes, including the Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton Africa.

In its maiden edition in 2019, the Womenpreneur Pitch-A-Ton Africa programme provided fifty women entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the opportunity to win financial grants of up to N5 million together with access to capacity building through a free mini-MBA offered by the International Finance Corporation (IFC). This year, the programme was extended to six other African countries where Access Bank has a presence. The countries are Ghana, Rwanda, Zambia, Sierra-Leone, Gambia and Democratic Republic of Congo.  

Speaking on the WIMCA award, Herbert Wigwe, Group Chief Executive Officer of Access Bank, said, “Access Bank will continue to strive to ensure that women are empowered. The Bank will also continue to introduce new and creative ways to foster an equal playing field for women across the spheres of business, entrepreneurship, health, social welfare and education, amongst many others.”

In addition to the Outstanding Female Friendly Bank of the Year award won by Access Bank at the fourth edition of WIMCA, Omobolanle Victor-Laniyan, Head of Sustainability at Access Bank, emerged as the winner of Outstanding Female Sustainability Professional of the Year award.

“I am honoured to be a part of an institution that is committed to making sustainable profit and has for over a decade been one of the most vocal advocates of women empowerment in Nigeria,” Ms. Victor-Laniyan said. “In addition to driving sustainable development locally and globally, Access Bank will remain committed to improving inclusion, access to healthcare, and economic prosperity for women.”

The theme of the WIMCA 2020 was "Generation Equality: Imperatives of Gender Inclusion for the Growth of Brands and Marketing Communications." As it was with the previous editions of the event, the theme of this year's event aligned with that of the International Women's Day 2020: "I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women's Rights.”

The Keynote Speaker at the WIMCA event last month was Victor Gbenga Afolabi, Group CEO of GDM Group. Among the panellists was Amaechi Okobi, Group Head of Corporate Communications at Access Bank. Other panellists included Pheobe Dami-Asolo, Customer Marketing and Commercial Manager at The Coca-Cola Company; and Ifeoma Dozie, Director, Marketing and Communications Sub Saharan Africa at Mastercard.

The WIMCA awards were additional to the multiple recognitions and awards conferred on Access Bank as regards its efforts in the economic, financial and social empowerment of women. Other awards received by the bank in this regard include Africa CEO Forum’s Gender Leader Award (2019); Financial Alliance Women’s Women Market Champion Award (2019); Bank of the Year Award (2019) by the Women’s Choice Awards Africa; Best Bank in Women Empowerment Award (2019) by the Nigeria Finance Innovation Awards; and the Central Bank of Nigeria’s Excellence in Women’s Economic Empowerment (2019).