FirstBank has launched a dollar-denominated money market fund for its female employees under the FirstBank Women Network.
The Chief Executive Officer of FirstBank Group, Olusegun Alebiosu, announced this on Friday at the bank’s International Women’s Day celebration held in Lagos.
This year’s International Women’s Day, observed on March 8, is celebrated under the theme ‘Accelerate Action.’
Alebiosu, who was represented by the Executive Director, Retail Banking (South) Directorate, Seyi Oyefeso, said, “It is with great pleasure that I announce the launch of the First Women Network Dollar Fund. This is yet another opportunity for women to build a steady stream of income and invest, following the immense success of the first Women Network note that was launched in 2022. The new FWN dollar fund allows women to invest in USD with as little as $100 at an attractive interest rate. I was speaking with the chairperson earlier, and she was telling me about the great success that has been recorded from the naira notes.
“I will say that each time you invest the funds, it’s such a rewarding investment in the sense that your little bit is accommodated in a larger fund, and the returns get very exciting. So, this is yet another fund that I will enjoin you all to be part of.
“This form allows you the conversion of naira to USD for this purpose, allowing our women to further diversify their earnings.”
In her keynote address, the non-executive director of First Bank, Remi Odunlami, urged the women to serve excellently and not shy away from taking on challenging projects.
“By the time you come out of that project, you go back and you say, ‘What did I learn from that project?’ And your supervisors look at you, and they say, ‘Wow, if she could do that. Give her more and more and more responsibilities, more promotions,’ but you need to look out for visible things. The higher the visibility, the better. Now it’s true that not everybody’s going to have that kind of spectacular project, but even within your departments, there are projects that need to be done, and if they are not out there, create them, find them, find something that you think would benefit the department, and make a suggestion to your supervisor,” she said.
The Global Chair, FirstBank Women Network, Mrs Olaitan Martins, in her welcome address, called on the women to stop pushing their dreams to the background.
“This year’s theme is Accelerate Action. It is more than just a call. It is a mandate. What are we accelerating action on? It’s those things you have been postponing and those things you have been procrastinating on, those things you’ve been pushing behind. ‘I want to do an IT course,’ you push it behind. ‘I want to do a leadership course,’ you push this behind. ‘I want to do a leadership course,’ ‘I want to do some training,’ ‘some professional course, you push it there. This is the time. This is the mandate acceleration action. It is a demand for urgency in our pursuit of self-accomplishment, economic empowerment, and leadership representation.
“Sitting and waiting is no longer an option. This is the time to act as a woman in banking. I’ve witnessed how financial institutions shape the government’s communities and opportunities. Yet for decades, women have had to fight for their rightful place in boardrooms,” Martins said.
She added, “We all have to support each other. Every decision we make, every opportunity we champion, and every barrier we break down contribute to the larger movement towards equality. Let us remember that gender equality is not just a women’s issue. It’s a societal imperative because when women succeed, economies grow stronger.”
According to the bank, the FirstBank Women Network is aimed at addressing the gender gap at the senior levels and tapping the opportunities presented by enabling our women to contribute even more if given the necessary strategic support and an intentionally enabling environment.
Also present at the event was the First Lady of Ogun State, Bamidele Abiodun, who came with a delegation, including the speaker’s wife, commissioner, and aides. The First Lady of Lagos State, Ibijoke Sanwo-Olu, was represented.
