Sterling Bank Limited has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing women’s economic participation in Nigeria through its support for the Nigeria Gender Country Program (NGCP), a multi-year private-sector platform designed to address structural barriers limiting women’s participation across employment, enterprise and leadership.
Anchored by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in partnership with the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), the program brings together businesses, financial institutions, regulators and development partners around measurable interventions capable of expanding women’s participation across Nigeria’s economy.
Speaking at the Program’s introduction, Lagos State Governor, His Excellency Babajide Sanwo-Olu, who was represented by the Honorable Commissioner for Commerce, Cooperatives, Trade and Investment, Mrs. Folashade Ambrose-Medebem, urged businesses to make gender inclusion part of their core strategies.
Also present, Minister of Women Affairs, Hajiya Imaan Sulaiman-Ibrahim, represented by her Special Assistant on Child Protection and Projects described the initiative as “a shared commitment to move from intention to action, and from action to measurable impact.
“At Sterling, Initiatives like the Momship Program are precisely because they saw that they were hiring competent women at entry level but losing them at exactly the point where the organization should have been getting the most out of their capabilities.
ALSO READ: WOMAN OF THE WEEK: SARAH ARAPTA, MD, CITIBANK UGANDA
Sterling’s participation in the NCGP builds on a broader institutional commitment to inclusive economic development, anchored in the Group’s H.E.A.R.T strategy, which directs capital towards Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Transportation. Internally, that commitment is reinforced through targeted program including Momship for working mothers and the Sterling Embrace Program for colleagues with disabilities.
The NGCP complements the Nigeria Country Gender Profile and Roadmap to Equality 2030, developed by the Federal Ministry of Women Affairs and Social Development with the African Development Bank and UN Women, and provides a framework through which private-sector organizations can translate the country’s gender inclusion ambitions into practical interventions.
Where Sterling is advocating an approach that combines capital with capability, access with opportunity, and policy with deliberate institutional action, creating more structured pathways for women to enter, remain, advance and thrive across Nigeria’s economy.
