Ecobank Group Commits to Gender Equality by Signing UN Women’s Empowerment Principles
Ecobank, the pan-African banking group, has made a significant step towards promoting gender equality and empowering women by officially joining the Women’s Empowerment Principles (WEPs) initiated by UN Women and the UN Global Compact, a decision highlights Ecobank’s dedication to advancing gender equality throughout its operations and beyond.
The announcement was made by Ecobank Group CEO, Jeremy Awori, during a webinar jointly organized by Ecobank Foundation and UN Women in celebration of International Women’s Day.
Themed “Invest in Women: Why does it matter? How can we accelerate it?”, the webinar delved into the importance of investing in women to foster inclusive societies and discussed strategies to combat unconscious biases and discriminatory practices hindering women’s advancement.
Jeremy Awori emphasized Ecobank’s dedication to driving gender equality, ensuring that women have equal rights and opportunities to realize their full potential without facing discrimination.
He highlighted Ecobank’s existing initiatives, including the multi-award-winning Ellevate programme, designed to meet the financial and non-financial needs of women-led businesses.
The Ellevate programme has already made significant strides, onboarding over 73,000 women business customers and providing more than US$177 million in loans since its launch in November 2020.
Additionally, Ecobank has implemented various other initiatives such as establishing a Diversity and Inclusion Council, sponsoring awareness programmes on gender-based violence, and implementing mentoring programmes to advance women’s career progression.
Mireille Kamitatu, Deputy Regional Director of UN Women Regional Office for West and Central Africa, commended Ecobank Group for its commitment to gender equality, recognizing the Bank’s leadership in advancing this agenda across the continent.
She expressed UN Women’s readiness to support Ecobank’s gender-focused initiatives towards achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Ecobank’s commitment to the WEPs underscores its dedication to promoting gender equality dimensions of the 2030 agenda and the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals.
By joining the WEPs community, Ecobank signals its commitment at the highest levels of the conglomerate to work collaboratively in multistakeholder networks to empower women and foster gender equality.
For more information about the Women’s Empowerment Principles by UN Women and the UN Global Compact, please visit www.weps.org.
