NOVA Bank supports women embracing tech

NOVA Merchant Bank has pledged to promote gender equality by supporting women who embrace technology skills in Nigeria.

The bank made this known at the 2023 NOVA International Women’s Day (IWD) conference held recently at the bank’s headquarters in Lagos.

Speaking at the event, the Chief-Host and Executive Director of NOVA Merchant Bank, Mrs. Funke Okoya, said: “Given the country’s transition to cashless policy, NOVA believes that women can play a significant role in providing innovative ideas to capitalise on the benefits of this disruption by leveraging innovation and technology.”

She added that NOVA will continue to push for the capacity development of women in Nigeria in technology and drive initiatives that advance women’s cause.

Also speaking, the CEO of NOVA Merchant Bank, Mrs Mabel Irona-Nduka, reiterated the bank’s stance on female empowerment, saying: “NOVA will continue to lead the many voices committed to women empowerment by making deliberate efforts to close the gender gap in traditionally male-dominated roles like information Technology and most especially, at leadership levels.

The Guest Speaker at the event, Dr Ola Brown, who is the Founding Partner, Health Cap Africa said: “Having tech-savvy women in leadership roles means making more profits, especially in a hyper-competitive industry such as banking where we must leverage and utilise all legitimate and innovative alternatives to optimise profit irrespective of gender, and this is where embracing equity is important.”

On her part, the Managing Director/CEO, Digital Jewels Africa, Mrs, Adedoyin Odunfa, while speaking on protecting the rights of women and girls in the digital space, said 50 per cent of women online have suffered some forms of online violence and harassment from the responses and nuances.

Odunfa stated that it is critical to teach women and girls digital skills and how to deal with online violence, and also put policies in place to protect women’s rights in the digital space.

The Star

Segun Ojo