PILA Advocates Gender Parity To Boost Africa’s Economy

L-R: Bunmi Adeleye, Corporate Services, Leadway Assurance, Moderator; Seyi Ifaturoti, MD/CEO, Transparency Scape Insurance Brokers, Discussant; Joyce Ojemudia, MD/CEO, African Alliance Insurance PLC and PILA President; Abiba Zakariah, Group COO, WAICA Re, Guest Speaker; and Shaibu Ali, foremost Insurance expert, Discussant at the Women In Insurance Conference hosted on the sides of the 47th African Insurance Organisation Conference by the Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA).

The Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA) has recommended gender parity premised on equitable opportunities distribution as a viable pathway to growing the African economy following the devastating of covid-19.

Speaking at the Women In Insurance side event hosted by PILA at the 47th African Insurance Organisation (AIO) Conference, with the theme, Women Collaborating for Africa’s Economic Growth, DrAbiba Zakariah, the Chief Operating Officer, WAICA Re, charged Women to recognise and acknowledge their strength by redefining “our objective from ‘gender equality to ‘playing our role’”. Dr Zakariah stated that women, over and above their income-earning activities, are central to the household economy and the welfare of their families which often remains unseen and unaccounted for in GDP.

“It has been shown that national economies lose out when a substantial part of the population cannot compete equitably or realize its full potential. Recent estimates suggest that gender parity overall has the potential to boost global gross domestic product (GDP) by between $12 trillion and $28 trillion between now and 2025,” she said.

On changing the world’s perspective from being the weaker vessels, the WAICA Re boss advised Women professionals to be intentional about fixing our economies and thus earn respect and acceptance as partners in development.

Earlier during her welcome address, the President of PILA, Mrs Joyce Ojemudia, who doubles as the MD/CEO of African Alliance Insurance thanked the Chairman of the Organising Committee,  MrsEbelechukwuNwachukwu and indeed the entire AIO Council; for integrating the PILA AFRICA Workshop into the AIO Conference. She further thanked the past President of PILA, Dr Tonia Smart, for her groundbreaking efforts in scaling PILA across Africa.

The highpoint of the event was the presentation of an award of honour to the outgoing Secretary-General of the AIO ,Ms Prisca Soares. Aptly described as an amazon of the African financial services industry Ms Soares was honoured for being a pillar of strength and beacon of hope for women professionals in particular and indeed, every professional across gender, in general. A tearful Ms Soares was full of praises for the leadership of PILA and thanked the association for finding her worthy of the honour.

Discussants at the event included MrsYetundeIlori, the Director-General of the Nigerian Insurers Association, Mrs Seyi Ifaturoti, foremost broker and Mr Shaibu Ali, an insurance expert from Ghana while Bunmi Adeleye, a Communications professional with Leadway Assurance Company moderated the event.

PILA Africa is an initiative of PILA Nigeria aimed at unifying and presenting a scalable platform for women in insurance across the continent.

L-R: Bunmi Adeleye, Corporate Services, Leadway Assurance, Moderator; Seyi Ifaturoti, MD/CEO, Transparency Scape Insurance Brokers, Discussant; Abiba Zakariah, Group COO, WAICA Re, Guest Speaker; Yetunde Ilori, Director-General, Nigerian Insurers Council and Shaibu Ali, foremost Insurance expert, Discussant at the Women In Insurance Conference hosted on the sides of the 47th African Insurance Organisation Conference by the Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA).

L-R: Joyce Ojemudia, MD/CEO, African Alliance Insurance PLC and PILA President; Prisca Soares, Outgoing Secretary-General, African Insurance Organisation (AIO), Dr Tonia Smart Past President, PILA and Mfon Akpan, General Secretary, PILA, during the presentation of an award of honour to Ms Soares at the Women In Insurance Conference hosted on the sides of the 47th African Insurance Organisation Conference by the Professional Insurance Ladies Association (PILA).