InspireME: Absa’s platform to drive women banking proposition

Absa Bank Ghana has further demonstrated its commitment to supporting women grow their business by organising its maiden women banking conference dubbed InspireME, a knowledge sharing platform to empower female entrepreneurs.

The InspireMe conference is part of the Absa EMERGE banking proposition which supports women-owned businesses and entrepreneurs with value-added financial solutions to empower them to sustainably grow their businesses. The conference which included partners across Africa was under the theme “Building a resilient and sustainable business in challenging times”.

Speaking at the Conference the Board Chair of Absa Bank Ghana, Mrs. Frances Adu-Mante said InspireME is expected to intensify the bank’s support to bring the possibilities of women entrepreneurs to life.

Mrs. Adu-Mante indicated that the country needs to harness the unique skills and competencies of women such as forward planning, courage, stress management, determination to succeed and multi-tasking to drive national development.

“As we position ourselves to enhance these skills and competencies to grow our businesses, Absa Bank has created this platform to enable women to learn from each other and also take advantage of products and services that will facilitate the scaling up of women businesses profitably,” Mrs. Adu-Mante said.

As the world seeks to emerge from the COVID-19 pandemic to become more resilient than before, Mrs. Adu-Mante noted that Absa Bank will continue to pursue innovative ways to partner businesses and support them to achieve their ambition.

Giving details of the InspireME conference, Mrs. Grace Anim-Yeboah, Business Banking Director at Absa Bank said the women banking conference which will run every quarter forms part of the bank’s commitment to enhance the EMERGE banking proposition.

“We launched this uniquely designed women proposition last year with a firm commitment to invest in the development and the growth of our female entrepreneurs and their businesses. The InspireME Conference is carefully crafted as a capacity building programme to help achieve this commitment,” Mrs. Anim-Yeboah said.

According to Mrs. Anim-Yeboah, one out of every four women in sub-Saharan Africa starts or manages a business. “Women typically reinvest 90% of their returns into their families, communities and in nutrition. Women have a significant impact on sustainable economic goals,” she noted.

In a panel discussion involving three accomplished business women with a combined entrepreneurial experience of over 50 years in different industries across three countries - Ghana, Kenya and South Africa, the speakers indicated that women are fundamental to every nation’s economic growth and development.

Dr. Joyce Gikunda, celebrated beautician and founder of Lintons Beauty World in Kenya, remarked that women businesses can succeed with the right direction, team and a sustainable client base.

In her submission, Renate Jute, a renowned South African entrepreneur and business strategist, advised women business owners to cultivate the desire for continuous learning and to surround themselves with a positive vibrant team.

According to Georgette Barnes Sekyi-Addo, a mining business executive and Executive Director of Georgette Barnes Ltd., women businesses should be focused, dynamic, adaptive to change and must look for opportunities through networking.

The goal of Absa InspireME is to connect women entrepreneurs to enable them draw inspiration and learn best practices from leading, thriving and influential business leaders across the globe.

The second edition of Absa InspireME conference comes off in July.