Investing in Women to Accelerate Societal Progress
Lagos Business School Sustainability Centre
Bringing together theory and practice on sustainability and business in Africa.
Welcome to the March edition of our newsletter where we commemorate this year's International Women's Day themed 'Invest in Women: Accelerate Progress.' We celebrate organisations building a culture of diversity and inclusion,?and exemplary female leaders in various sectors and also take stock of?global and regional gender parity efforts given the?Africa We Want.?There has been slow but?steady progress across the globe in?closing gender gaps in spaces where the exclusion of women and girls was the status quo.?In Sub-Saharan Africa, there have been significant improvements.. According to the?Global Gender Gap Report released in June 2023?-?which measures gender?equality across the realms of the economy, politics, health and education -,?there has been?progress in educational attainment and upticks in the health, survival and political empowerment categories. However, in economic participation the gap?showed some regression, sounding alarm bells of a “post-pandemic crisis”.?Educational attainment,?health and survival are seeing a close in parity in access by men and women, boys and girls, but there is still a huge gap in female access and equal opportunity?political empowerment?and economic participation.?Trade,?for example,?falls under the economic participation and opportunity gap. This gap impacts women as consumers, workers and entrepreneurs. Sadly,?Nigeria has ranked poorly in the last ten years, with its latest ranking as?130 out of 146 countries, calling for urgent and concerted efforts to accelerate women's participation in key sectors of economic activity for the society as a whole to gain the widespread socio-economic gains of an empowered populace across gender.We continue to salute women who have hurdled socio-cultural and socio-economic barriers and commend the men and organisations who support women to be and contribute their best. We also join the voices across the globe in this pertinent call?for more women-purposed investments to close gender gaps in economic participation and accelerate progress for the development of the African continent.?Let's start with news from LBS.?Happy Women's Month once again.
News from LBS
Lagos Business School Community celebrates 2024 International Women's Day. Learn more here.
LBS?begins?the ‘Co-Impact’ Project which aims to foster gender equality in Nigeria’s Financial Services Sector. Learn more here.
LBS and Partners?host Inaugural Chief Finance Officers (CFOs) Summit,? dialogue highlights corporate reporting on sustainability/ESG performance and impacts.?Watch the playback here??Learn more here.
Celebrating Women in Business
10 Leading Nigerian Women in Business,?2024 profile by BusinessDay Media. Learn more here.
WEMA Bank host 2024 ‘She Empowers Her Award’ by SARA,?earmarks N8.9bn for Empowerment of Women. Learn more here.
10 facts to know about International Women’s Day.?Learn more here.
Insight - Closing the Gender Gap
The Global Gender Gap Index benchmarks improvements made by regions and countries globally, across 4 key indicators of economic participation?and opportunity, educational attainment, health and survival, and political?empowerment. Since 2006, it has continued to track advancement?by countries, recording a slight improvement in this year's global gender?parity?score from 68.1% to 68.4%. Read the recent report here.
World Bank Gender Strategy 2024 – 2030: Accelerate Gender Equality for a Sustainable, Resilient and Inclusive Future. Learn more here
Advancing Women’s Economic Power through Financial Access and Digital Technologies.?Learn more here.
Closing the mobile gender gap in Sub-Saharan Africa: A social and commercial opportunity. Learn more here.
Water Stewardship - 2024 WWD
LBSSC?and International Breweries Plc host 2024 World?Water Day Web Forum themed?‘Water For Peace: The Triple Bottom Line of Sustainable Water Management in Brewing Operations".?Learn more here.
Nigerian Bottling Company (NBC) Limited, reaffirms its commitment to promoting sustainable clean water preservation and stewardship across its plants. Learn more here.
World Water Day 2024: WHOs highlight bridging divides through water cooperation.?Learn more here.
Corporations and Sustainability
FRC, NGXReco Unveil Roadmap for Adoption of Sustainability Financial Reporting Standards in Nigeria.?Learn more here.
UN Global Compact Network Nigeria Launches Transformational Governance Toolkit. Learn more here, ?Access the toolkit here.
It's not just about ticking boxes, Nigeria gives?a four-year?timeline for companies to adopt and report on?eco-friendly practices. Learn more here.
Energy Investments & Transition
The Nigeria Sovereign Investment Authority and North South Power Company Limited signed a Joint Venture Agreement to co-invest in Nigeria's pioneer 20MW Grid Solar Hydro Hybrid Project.?Learn more here.
Schneider Electric to provide sustainable electrification for rural West Africa.?Learn more here.
Geothermal Energy to power data centre in Kenya.?Learn more here.
Green Horizons
African Guarantee Fund covers 75% risks of green field, women-led SMEs. Learn more here.
Nestlé Launches Carbon Reduction Initiatives with Supplier Collaboration in West Africa. Learn more here.
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