We marked International Women’s Day 2020 the annual Anakazi Banking Zambian Women of the Year awards. The Women of the Year Awards were founded by Karen Nakawala to bestow exceptional Zambian women with the recognition they deserve for remarkable achievements in their respective fields. Women from across the country representing various fields attended the awards ceremony at Lusaka’s Intercontinental Hotel.
The 2020 Anakazi Banking Woman of the Year award went to Susan Mukandawire Mulikita, while the Zambia Daily Mail’s Cynthia Kalonde Nyati received the Woman in Information and Broadcasting Award. Dr Patricia Shingombe received the Woman in Health Award and Engineer Himba Cheelo was awarded Woman in infrastructure. The Lifetime Achievement Award was given posthumously to Lydia Marjory Nyirenda Folotiya for a legacy that has gone beyond her lifetime. Her children received the award.
Stanbic Bank is a signatory to several international policies aimed at promoting gender equality and women’s empowerment.
2020 International Women’s Day comes a quarter of a century from the declaration of the need for gender equity in all areas made at the Beijing conference. Stanbic Bank Chief Executive Officer Leina Gabaraane said there was little achieved in gender equality since the Beijing declaration. He said.
“There still exist many countries and institutions in the world that do not support gender equality,” “To this day, we still find ourselves having certain roles reserved for certain genders and not others. As people in positions of leadership, we must introspect and ask ourselves what we have done to promote true equality of the sexes.
“It is for this reason that I am pleased to announce that as Stanbic Bank, we are not only a leading bank in terms of profitability and commercial value, but we have also taken the lead in our social responsibility matters such as empowering women in Zambia, our home, and indeed across the globe.”
We have expanded our support for women into a unique product that is Anakazi Banking. This is a robust and rich platform that looks to provide women with increased access to finance and capacity building. We believe that knowledge and exposure are very cardinal to success and with them, we are confident there is nothing that can stop our women from excelling in their careers. We are delighted to be supporting the awards.
