From left: Committee Secretary, Grace Okotie; Chairman of the Committee and former Secretary General of AIO , Prisca Soares and President Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA), Margaret Nkechi Moore during the inaugural meeting held recently held in Lagos.
BY NKECHI NEACHE—ESEZOBOR—To achieve the required growth in insurance industry, women in insurance, Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA), has inaugurated Gender Parity Committee, aimed at bridging the gap of gender inequality in the Insurance Industry.
Speaking at the event which took place in Lagos recently, the President of PILA, Lady Margaret Nkechi Moore, said it’s their desire to contribute their quota efficiently in the insurance industry.
According to her, the Central Bank of Nigeria (CBN) regulation mandate of a minimum of 30% female representation on Boards of Nigeria Commercial Banks while the Security and Exchange Commission (SEC) code recommendation that public listed companies consider gender when selecting board members and Nigeria Code of Corporate Governance (NCCG) highlight of the importance of diversity on boards and committees, the female gender is still shortchanged with very low participation at the C-Suits and Board levels of the Insurance Industry and beyond.
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The president who also doubles as president of African Insurance Women Association (AIWA), listed: Establish current level of female involvement at the C-Suites in the Insurance industry in Nigeria; Examine impediments in the way of women’s progress to executive positions; Explore modalities of bridging the gap; Propose policies (Through the Association) to the regulatory authority, Captains of the Industry and government on bridging the gap and Any other related assignment that may be necessary for the actualization of the goal as terms of reference of the committee.
She added that this is one of her thrust of office as president of AIWA, since the situation is even worse in some other African countries, noting that committee will begin the process with the Nigeria Insurance industry before extending to other countries in Africa.
In her acceptance speech, the Chairman of the Committee, Prisca Soares, said for a long time women were considered to be second class citizens and, unfortunately they are still treated as such in many countries.
She said that if progress proceeds at the same pace it has been going in the areas of Economic Participation and Opportunity, Educational Attainment and Health and Survival, it may take about 132 years for the overall gender gap to close.
“Those of us involved in this assignment have been fortunate to make it to top Management positions in the Insurance industry. The same is not the case for most women in our industry where there are currently only 8 substantive female CEOs out of 55 Insurance companies – a mere 14.5%.
According to her many more women need to be brought into the C-suite and it is the responsibility of this Committee to advise and make proposals on how this can be achieved.
She thanked the President of PILA for the position to chair the committee and assured her of the commitment to deliver.
Members of the committee are:
Prisca Soares – Chairman
Seyi Ifaturoti,
Funmi Babington-Ashaye
Ebelechukwu Nwachukwu,
Yetunde Ilori
Bola Onigbogi
Funmi Omo,
Vera Aimufua
Ose Oluyanwo ,
Grace Okotie
Nkechi Margaret Moore
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