CBN Wants More Women Bank Management Executives

The Governor of Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN), Malam Lamido Sanusi, on Friday said that banks would henceforth publish their gender positions to check marginalisation of women.

Sanusi disclosed this at a public lecture on “Women on Board” in Lagos. He said that the publication should include women in the management and board levels.

The CBN governor said that 30 per cent of banks’ board would be constituted by women by 2014. Lamido said that the apex bank would ensure that the publication, which would begin in 2012, would reflect gender distribution between 2007 and 2011.

Sanusi said that the men should understand the ethical and value benefits of having women on boards of organisations. He however, said that there were efforts to find out if this was constitutional adding that the outcome would determine what next to do about the issue. Sanusi advised women in management positions to have the courage to overcome problems associated with such positions.

He said that they should have the courage to stand by their decisions and embrace meritocracy for them to be promoted. The CBN boss challenged female bankers to shun ‘soft skill’ areas such as marketing and human resources and go into areas like risk management, audit and finance.

The CBN governor, has on February 14, said that women would occupy 40 per cent of the top management positions in the nation’s banks by 2014. The governor said that the target would be achieved through the women empowerment initiative, which the bank launched in Lagos.

He said that the initiative would not only be for female bankers, but would also enable women entrepreneurs to have access to subsidised loans from banks. The UN marked the 2012 International Women’s Day on Thursday.