Wema Bank, FG Partner To Empower 500,000 Women

Through its women-focused proposition, SARA by Wema, Wema Bank has partnered with the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs to launch MOWA x SARA Accelerator Programme, an initiative aimed at empowering 500,000 women across Nigeria with vocational and business management skills.

SARA by Wema is Wema Bank’s women-focused proposition established with the goal of promoting gender inclusion and equality by empowering women with tailored resources, opportunities and solutions essential to enable them to thrive personally and professionally.

MOWA x SARA Accelerator Programme is set to run for 24 months and will cover 36 states and the Federal Capital Territory. The focus will be on two areas: vocational skills and business management skills.

Executive director of Retail and Digital, Wema Bank, Tunde Mabawonku expressed confidence in the programme’s potential for empowering women to thrive.

According to her, Nigeria’s ever-evolving macroeconomic landscape calls for an acutely intentional approach to providing tailored solutions and opportunities to empower our people, especially the women.

“Recognising the need for tailored solutions that help women thrive, we launched SARA in 2019 as a dedicated avenue for reaching out to women across Nigeria, empowering them with unique solutions tailored to their needs even beyond banking, and providing them with the support they need to maximise their potential.”

Mabawonku encouraged 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, saying that “we also have grants reserved for this programme so it is a total package designed to help these women become economically active.

“Inclusion runs deep for us so we have curated this programme such that women of various ages from any part of the country can participate and reap the benefits of this programme.”

The Minister for Women Affairs, Uju Kennedy-Ohanenye said, “I believe that if we empower the women and they start making money, a lot of prevalent challenges faced by women as a result of gender inequality may be averted. This partnership is beyond the Federal Ministry of Women Affair, it extends to the Nigerian Women Affairs.

“Our goal is to ensure the sustainability of all women empowerment initiatives, which is why we are bringing in the private sector. On this project, Wema Bank is evidently ready to fly, and we are committed to flying together to achieve our objectives.”

MOWA x SARA Accelerator Programme was launched at a Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signing ceremony which was held on September 30, 2024 in Abuja.