Ecobank will transform the entire value chain of this fabric business, empower women and make adire go global.  

 By Funke Awodiya

 Gender bias is as old as humanity. Today, sexism has become a movement and a front-burner issue discussed by various institutions and individuals. This year’s International Women’s Day, themed around breaking biases that hinder female advancement in today’s world, re-echoes the global relevance of gender inclusion.  In Nigeria, a critical area where women still lag behind is financial inclusion.

This, perhaps, underpins the recent collaboration between Ecobank and Ogun State women in adire fabric business. The Adire Market Week, which was held in Abeokuta and hosted by the Office of the First Lady, Ogun State Government was powered by Ecobank in furtherance of its plans to enhance the economic fortunes of people in adire fabric business, a craft that is widely dominated by women. The plan by the wife of the Ogun State Governor, Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, who also is the founder of Ajose Foundation, to support women and help grow the adire fabric business, resonates with Ecobank Group’s ELLEVATE, an initiative specially designed for women in business, and businesses with a high percentage of female executives or employees, including manufacturers of products used by women, according to the Executive Director, Commercial Banking, Carol Oyedeji.

Oyedeji stresses that Ecobank recognizes the critical role of women in society and this informs the decision to support women-owned businesses with a suite of financial solutions, incorporating smarter money management, discounted financing, and value-added services that women may require. She assures that Ecobank will continue to work with the private sector and other interest groups to realize this objective, adding that ELLEVATE offers end-to-end, differentiated business solutions, financial support, advisory services, and networking opportunities for businesses in Nigeria that are managed and owned by women.

Nike Kolawole, Head, Agency Banking, Ecobank, in her remarks at the recently concluded expo, said Ecobank is committed to empowering the youth and most especially women. She stressed that the decision to sponsor the Adire Market Week was borne out of the bank’s commitment to empowering more women by providing the platforms and opportunities for them to thrive, against the backdrop of the fact that women’s needs are unique, and Ecobank believes that the appropriate resources must be put in place to meet these needs. “When a woman is elevated, the country is elevated, she said.

Mrs. Bamidele Abiodun, in her goodwill message, expressed her desire in facilitating private sector participation to achieve sustainability in the adire value chain and taking the fabric to the global level. This played out visibly as women in Abeokuta expressed their appreciation for the efforts by the exemplary leadership of Governor Dapo Abiodun in promoting the local fabric.

You will recall that the governor now wears Adire to work two days a week; civil servants in the state are also wearing adire to work. The Governor estimates adire fabric purchased by the 60,000 civil servants of Ogun State who wear cloths made from adire to be at least 180,000 pieces. His government has also adopted the local fabric as part of the school uniform in Ogun State.

Ecobank’s intervention in the operations of women in adire business, most of who were hitherto operating at a small scale level, but can now expand their businesses to a much bigger level due to access to a suite of financial solutions from the bank, is undoubtedly a positive development for the fabric most indigenous to Nigeria. Its adoption is growing, as can be seen when Michelle Obama, former First Lady of the United States of America, recently rocked adire to an A-List event.

Funke Awodiya is a medical sociologist and creative writer based in Lagos.

Ayodele Johnson

Ayodelé is a Lagos-based journalist and the Content and Editorial Coordinator at Meiza. All around the megacity, I am steering diverse lifestyle magazine audiences with ingenious hacks and insights that spur fast, informed decisions in their busy lives.