At the backdrop of the 2023 International Women’s Day, IWD, celebrations, various subject matter specialists have called for creation of opportunities that empower women to fulfil their full potential for the good of society across all sectors in the society.

Speaking at a webinar organized by Polaris Bank Limited the CEO of Digital Jewels, Adedoyin Odunfa, pointed out the need to address gender imbalance and prevailing conscious and unconscious biases against women. She also emphasised the need to intentionally empower women with technological innovation rather than just pay lip service to it.

This position was also echoed by two other Panellists at the webinar: Chinyelu Chikwendu, a Director with Vatebra TechHub and Ededayo Durosinmi-Etti, CEO of Herconomy.  

Also contributing at the session as a Panellist, Dr. (Mrs.) Amina Sambo-Magaji, an AI specialist, Researcher and Tech policy maker, emphasised the need for collaboration and a system approach to promote gender equality in the digital space. 

Dr. Sambo-Magaji, a distinguished Humphrey Fellow, who doubles as a Director at National Information Technology Development Agency (NITDA) also called for measures to promote women’s participation in all aspects of digital, including technological innovation, and digital governance. She emphasised the need for policies that actively promote gender equality and empower women to be partners, consumers, and creators of technology and innovation.  

Earlier, Polaris Bank’s Group Head, Customer Experience Management & Sustainability, Bukola Oluyadi spoke on why the bank organised the webinar. “The goal of this event is to address the various challenges faced by women in diverse professions, identify skill gaps needed to be addressed, and how technology, innovation, and digital education can be leveraged to empower women so that gender equity can be felt more in our economy.”