Nigerian Exchange Group of Companies and its partners, the World Federation of Exchanges (WFE), Sustainable Stock Exchanges (SSE) Initiative, United Nations (UN) Women, United Nations Global Compact and International Finance Corporation (IFC) have called on private and public sector stakeholders to close the gender gap by creating more opportunities for women to thrive.

This deliberation was made at the 2023 International Women’s Day symposium themed “Embrace Equity: Setting the Standard for a Sustainable Future” which held on Wednesday, 8 March 2023. The event brought together stakeholders across sectors to chart the cause for driving sustainable outcomes for women and men to thrive.

In his welcome remarks, Group Chief Executive Officer, Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX Group), Mr Oscar N. Onyema, OON noted that the Group is committed to prioritizing equity, diversity and inclusion in its workplace. “Gender equity is an ongoing journey that requires sustained efforts and commitment from all of us. We must commit to continuing to push the boundaries of what is possible, embrace new ideas to challenge ourselves and each other for a more equitable and sustainable future.”

Temi Popoola, CEO, Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX), spoke about the Exchange’s strides in promoting diversity and inclusion in the capital market. Citing the progress made on NGX’s collaboration with IFC on the Nigeria2Equal Initiative, he added, “With Nigeria2Equal, we have been able to galvanize private sector action to close the gender gap, the most recent program of which is the launch of the Gender-Based Violence and Harassment in Workplaces research.”

The fireside talk on gender diversity and inclusion in the boardroom between Ms. Tinuade Awe, Chief Executive Officer, NGX Regulation Limited, and Mrs. Rosie Bichard, Co-chair, Women Executives on Boards, was another highlight of the day as the discussions underlined that culture transformation remained crucial to address inclusion on the board, despite the need to introduce younger women to the board as well as complete transparency with proven metrics in relation to the corporate governance structure.

Other highlights of the event was a goodwill message from Mrs. Catherine Echeozo, Chairperson, NGX Regulation Limited (NGX RegCo); Ms. Naomi Nwokolo, Executive Director, United Nations Global Compact Network Nigeria; Ms Beatrice Eyong, UN Women Country Representative to Nigeria and ECOWAS; Mrs. Ojinika Olaghere, Board Member, NGX Group Plc and a keynote address by Ms Dahlia Khalifa, Regional Director, International Finance Corporation, (IFC) themed Promoting Equity for Women and Men for a Sustainable World. The symposium also featured a panel session to discuss ways to create safe spaces for women to thrive which was moderated by Dr. Kemi Dasilva-Ibru, Founder, Women at Risk Foundation (WARIF) and featured discussions from Adesuwa Rhodes, CEO Aruwa Capital Management; Kate Henshaw, Actress and Entrepreneur; Dr Dipo Awojide, Founder, BTDT HUB; Nkechi Anyagwa, Lady Wheelers Association and Chidinma Chukwueke-Okolo, Head, Product Development, NGX