Over the last few weeks, Nigerians have taken to Twitter to
discuss what it meant to be a woman in Nigeria. The conversation highlighted
the various issues women in Nigeria face on a daily basis, including prejudice,
stereotypes and having to prove themselves. The tweets ranged from the morbidly horrifying to the
questionably unfair. Nigerian women it seems have it hard, but the truth be
told women all over the world have it hard. Amazon.com
Often we
talk about the way African women are treated in life and in business, we
discuss how African women are not moving forward at the same pace as the rest
of the world. We examine culture and traditional ways of thinking and these
things have hindered women on the continent. We see it everyday — all a woman
has to do is breathe online these days and someone will stand up tell her she
is out of line. What are we doing to stop it though?
I was
playing on YouTube (as one does), and I found a video that eloquently discusses
what success means for women in Nigeria and I think it can be expanded to
Africa. This video was published by Access Bank in Nigeria as part of its W
Initiative. The video seems to be a Nigerian campaign about women and how to
define success for an African audience, I
obviously I like the concept.
“The W Initiative is the home of everything Access Bank has to
offer women. ‘W’ speaks to the strength that every woman around the world
carries. It is about women, the Nigerian women and women around the world,” the
bank writes on the initiative’s site. “This new approach to banking women provides banking
solutions to meet the unique financial and lifestyle needs of women across
distinct sub segments whether it’s a young professional, a Woman with a Family
or a Woman in Business.”
The initiative is about making banking inclusive. That might
seem trivial and commonplace to most but this is critical — especially for
female entrepreneurs. In an effort to expand on this, the bank has created an
awards series to honor women who are doing incredible things. Though it seems
they began with a misstep in terms of what makes a woman extraordinary. I am
not going rehash that but you can read all about it here. It does seem the
bank has learnt from its mistake and decided on a different direction to engage
women.
Women in
Africa suffer every day at the hand of institutionalised sexism and worse; when
you are told “no” enough, you start to accept it. Empowerment shouldn’t just be
a word and right now it feels like just a word. Women should be able to find
themselves in others, people who inspire them. Women should feel confident
enough to negotiate salaries, apply for challenging roles and promotions. Women
should not be governed by archaic societal preconception.
What I am
interested in is what this award series could be and how this video made me
feel as an African woman who is navigating the world of what success is and how
to be in a world where success is challenged. Whether we like to admit it or
not, for women it is hard to break the glass ceiling. Entrepreneurship is
already difficult enough, but for women these pursuits are doubly hard. Getting
banks and investors to trust that you know what you are doing, is often tough.
Men have
been blessed with their ‘boys club’ and a treasure trove of mentors who will
guide them through their careers if they only ask. There are not enough women
in the business for us to build that club of mentors, or are there? I think
there are, I think there are tons of women out there doing extraordinary things
building great business and breaking down barriers, if only some will recognise
them. This is what the awards series should be.
According to the awards site:
The W Awards is positioned to
recognize and celebrate Nigerian women who defy all odds to stand out
successfully; highlighting the important contribution that women are making in
the Nigerian emerging economy. We are looking for women across four categories
who, through their achievements and contribution, have had an impact within
their relevant category.
Young
African women need role models to tell them that is okay to dream big, that
just because someone says you can’t doesn’t mean you shouldn’t. As Africa comes
online and its people experience what the world of technology has to offer, its
women will have to take their place as technologists, engineers, doctors and
entrepreneurs. A campaign like this, for me, asks a number of questions: do we
recognise the women who are moving the needle, the women paving the way for
young girls to think of tech and entrepreneurship as commonplace?
What is
success? What does it mean for women? Should it mean anything different for
women than it means for men? There is no need for differing definition of what
success means for women in business and in the work place. Before we can
achieve true equality we must admit there is an unbalance that needs to be
fixed. The terrifying lines of gender based discrimination need to be erased
and a new slate of gender operation must be addressed.
By Mich
Atagana
