Senior leaders of some of the biggest banks in Ethiopia attended the closing ceremonies of NEWFin’s weekly trainings given to a total of 1,000+ young women finance professionals.
CEOs and senior leaders of the Cooperative Bank of Oromia, Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Dashen Bank, Hijra Bank, Siinqee Bank and Oromia Bank appeared as the guests of honor at the weekly closing ceremonies of trainings by NEWFin’s Young Women Professionals’ Development Program (YWPDP).
The YWPDP is an initiative designed to cultivate the next generation of female leaders in the financial sector by equipping young women with critical skills, knowledge, and leadership capabilities. Targeting young women professionals entering or already working in the finance profession, the Program provides a holistic learning experience through in-person workshops focused on leadership, self-development and banking fundamentals, as well as mentorships.
The leaders enthusiastically accepted the invitation to address the young professionals and appreciated the work NEWFin is doing. All of them acknowledged the need to empower women in the finance industry as they have historically been far less represented in leadership positions. Reflecting on their young days, the leaders shared life lessons and career advice with the young professionals. In addition, they took and responded to questions from the audience.
In this year’s YWPDP, which is implemented by SWIFT Program, another initiative of the National Bank of Ethiopia in partnership with the Mastercard Foundation, NEWFin is providing training to a total of 1,000+ young women finance professionals sourced from 30 banks and 11 insurance companies. The trainings are led by 50 IFC/LPI-certified trainers in three topics: leadership, banking and insurance. The Program is activating a digital learning platform on the NEWFin website, hosting a package of interactive video courses on leadership and banking to support self-paced flexible learning for NEWFin members. In addition, one-to-one mentorships with senior professionals in the finance industry are also being facilitated.
The full videos of the leaders’ remarks will soon be posted on the NEWFin YouTube channel.
