WIMBIZ advocates more women representation in govt, boards

The Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) on Thursday advised all the tiers of government and policy makers to increase the number of women in their cabinets.

Mrs Osayi Alile, the President of WIMBIZ, made the appeal at a media parley in Lagos to announce WIMBIZ forthcoming annual conference.

Alile said that one of the major targets of WIMBIZ was to advocate for more qualified women in elective and executive positions.

She also said that the current number of women in government positions were still low and could be beefed up.

“Asides, our mentoring programmes which has gained a lot of grounds amongst younger women, we are also on a campaign telling government and companies that women can also take up leadership positions.

“We have been making efforts to approach the government to include more women in its cabinet as their presence will make a major contribution.

“Statistics say that 70 per cent of the SMEs are owned by women which means that the inclusion of women in policy making would reduce the rate of poverty in the nation.

“Women also are known to remit their taxes and dues from their businesses and the boards they head which translates to greater revenue for the nation if women are allowed, ” she said.

Alile also emphasised the need for women to network with themselves by joining and affiliating with relevant organisations like WIMBIZ.

She said that the upcoming conference in November, tagged: “Step up and stand out”, would attract over 2000 women across Africa.

Alile said that women speakers from across the world and Africa would be speaking and mentoring young women at the event.

She urged younger women entrepreneurs to enrol for mentoring programmes with already successful women to enable them excel in their endeavours.

She announced that WIMBIZ would be giving out one million naira to thee successful participants under the WIMBIZ Mentorship Programme.