WIMBIZ wins AXA empower women award

AXA Mansard Insurance has announced Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) as the winner of AXA Empower Women contest of the year.

AXA Empower Women contest, which has 10,000 Euros cash prize, is one of the numerous women-focused initiatives by AXA Mansard.

According to the company the contest was borne out of the need to empower women entrepreneurs across the AXA Emerging Markets EMEA-LATAM region, to grow and succeed in their businesses, in order to care for and protect their families and ultimately impact the economies of their various countries.

Speaking at the award presentation ceremony, the Chairperson of WIMBIZ, Aishah Ahmad, said the group is grateful to AXA for the recognition and funds as we strive to positively impact the Nigerian woman.

According to her, over the years, a recurring challenge among women in Nigeria has been how businesses headed by them would gain access to finance, especially at startups.

“To solve this challenge, WIMBIZ developed WIMCAP to equip female entrepreneurs with the skills and knowledge to grow their businesses in a sustainable manner,” she stated.

According to her, WIMBIZ’s has over 5,000 women on its database and has impacted over 20,000 women through its various programs.

While congratulating WIMBIZ, the Chief Executive Officer of AXA Mansard, Yetunde Ilori, said, the management and staff of AXA Mansard are pleased that WIMBIZ won the keenly contested competition where a number of initiatives were considered from 21 countries.

“With the cash price, WIMBIZ would be able to execute its initiatives on WIMCAP and help better alleviate the financial skills of the Nigerian Woman,” he noted.

Also, the Head of Communications and Corporate Responsibility, AXA Emerging Markets EMEA-LATAM, Clara Rodrigo, said that women today are taking charge, excelling at university, starting innovative businesses and taking care of their communities, adding that AXA wants to ensure they are protected along the way.

“We are proud of supporting WIMBIZ and empowering Nigerian women,” she said.

The winning project, WIMBIZ Capacity Building Project (WIMCAP) was one of the entries submitted by AXA Mansard. WIMCAP is designed to equip women entrepreneurs in Nigeria with the skills and tools for building sustainable businesses that will create jobs and attract investment.

To celebrate the International Women’s Day, a call was made from AXA to employees within the region to nominate Non-Governmental Organization (NGO) sponsored projects benefiting women in the community for the ‘Empower Women’ regional contest.