AXA Mansard, a member of AXA, the global leader in insurance and asset management as part of the its plans to foster women empowerment and capacity building has collaborated with SME 100 Africa to empower one female business owner at the 2021 International Women’s Day Conference.
The conference which held on Thursday March 4, 2020 was themed ‘Choose to Challenge: Achieving An Equal Future in a COVID-19 World’. It held in a hybrid (both virtual and physical) format and featured sessions from various successful female business owners such as Mrs. Funke Bucknor-Obruthe, the CEO of Zapphire Events Limited and Fade Ogunro the CEO of Bookings Africa. It also featured a financial literacy session facilitated by AXA Mansard’s investment officer, Nneoma Mere.
The highlight of the session was the business pitch session where female entrepreneurs presented their pitches and keenly competed for a prize of One Million Naira (N1,000,000) towards their businesses. GreenHill Recycling Limited founded by Mrs. Mariam Lawani – a social enterprise that provides sustainable solutions to the waste management crisis in Nigeria through recycling and upcycling emerged as the winner of the prize.
Read Also: Facebook Launches ‘LeadHERs: Life Lessons from African Women’
Commenting about the pitch competition, the Chief Customer and Marketing Officer at AXA Mansard, Mrs. Olajumoke Odunlami noted that “The pitch session was a thrilling and impactful experience for me. I am very privileged to have been a part of this session and to have seen the great things that women are doing in business. Women are the force for change and we must continue to strive to ensure that we are visible and relentless.”
Mrs Odunlami concluded by saying that “AXA is committed to gender equality through implementation of gender initiatives as well as sound and inclusive policies, processes and culture across the organisation. We believe that women are the key to progress as they are a vital force for growth and development around the world. We encourage women to take advantage of our SHE for Shield initiative which is tailored towards empowering women. Every business owner who has made a pitch here is a winner as they are all doing fantastic things with their businesses. I congratulate the winner of the prize money, Mrs. Lawani whose company is targeted at sustainability. We at AXA are strong advocates of sustainability and this is also reflected in our targets and policies.
AXA Mansard was incorporated in 1989 as a private limited liability company and is registered as a composite company with the National Insurance Commission of Nigeria (NAICOM). The Company offers life and non-life insurance products and services to individuals and institutions across Nigeria whilst also offering asset/investment management services and health insurance solutions through its two subsidiaries – AXA Mansard Investments Limited and AXA Mansard Health Limited respectively. AXA Mansard was listed on the Nigeria Stock Exchange in November 2009.
