Sterling Bank Limited has reaffirmed its commitment to advancing women’s economic participation in Nigeria through its support for the Nigeria Gender Country Programme (NGCP), a multi-year private-sector initiative aimed at addressing structural barriers limiting women’s participation in employment, enterprise and leadership.
The programme, anchored by the International Finance Corporation (IFC) in partnership with the Nigerian Exchange Group (NGX) and Lagos Chamber of Commerce and Industry (LCCI), brings together businesses, financial institutions, regulators and development partners to promote measurable interventions that expand women’s participation in the economy.
Speaking at the programme’s introduction in Lagos, Temi Dalley, Group Executive, Human Capital and Corporate Services, Sterling Financial Holdings Company Plc, said inclusion must move beyond policy statements to practical interventions capable of delivering measurable results.
She identified critical points at which women often drop out of the economic pipeline, including the transition into motherhood, the middle-management level and the stage where female entrepreneurs require support to scale their businesses.
Dalley said Sterling had introduced initiatives such as its Momship Programme to address some of these challenges internally through mentorship, sponsorship, capability-building and flexible work arrangements.
“At Sterling, we built initiatives like the Momship Programme precisely because we saw that we were hiring competent women at entry level but losing them at exactly the point where the organisation should have been getting the most out of their capabilities,” she said.
She added that female-led businesses also required more than access to finance, stressing the importance of knowledge, structure, networks and mentorship.
“If the private sector is serious about the ambition of the NGCP, we have to build that full ecosystem, not just write the cheques. Nigeria cannot grow around the productive capacity of half its population, it has to grow through it,” Dalley said.
Sterling said its participation in the programme aligns with its H.E.A.R.T strategy, which focuses investment on Health, Education, Agriculture, Renewable Energy and Transportation.
The bank also runs the Sterling Embrace Programme for colleagues with disabilities and has been recognised among Nigeria’s Best Workplaces by Great Place to Work for five consecutive cycles.
