NGX reiterates commitment towards gender equity and inclusion

The Nigerian Exchange Limited says it remains committed to promoting and supporting gender equality as well as creating and maintaining an environment that is free from all forms of discrimination.

The Chief Executive Officer, NGX, Temi Popoola, CFA stated this during the launch of Hofstede Insight’s Nigeria Diversity, Equity and Inclusion report on Tuesday.

While stating that the business case for diversity and inclusion is well established, Popoola, citing a recent study conducted by Boston Consulting Group, said that companies with more diverse management teams have 19 percent higher revenues due to innovation.

He noted that organizational culture is of utmost importance in enhancing organizational performance and added that the NGX recognizes that aspect of organisational culture.

According to him, the exchange implements various initiatives that help shape the method that issuers adopt in their approach to corporate governance, and by extension, promoting diversity, equity and inclusion.

“In Nigeria, gender forms arguably forms the most topical theme in the discourse on diversity, equity and inclusion. Promoting gender equality can be an economic game changer and at NGX, our support for gender equality, and by extension, elimination of gender-based discrimination is strategic element of our Corporate Sustainability Strategy (CSR). Within our operations, we are committed to creating and maintaining an environment that is free from all forms of discrimination. Across our ecosystem, we have partnered with International Finance Corporation (IFC) to implement the first multi-stakeholder country project focused on reducing gender gaps in Nigeria’s private sector companies”, Popoola said.

The NGX CEO further revealed that the exchange pays close attention to gender balance by tracking the ratio of male to females across our operations and our subsidiaries while adding that prior to demutualization, the Nigerian Stock Exchange (NSE) had a female representation of 27 per cent on the National Council, the highest level of leadership of the NSE.

“This has improved significantly since our demutualization with female participation standing at 27 percent for NGX Group and 18 percent, 57 percent and 50 percent for NGX Real Estate, NGX Regulation and Nigerian Exchange Limited (NGX) respectively. It is noteworthy to add that the Chairpersons of NGX Regulation and NGX Real Estate as well as the Chief Executive Officer of NGX Regulation are women. We remain committed to committed to championing efforts aimed at advancing gender equality across our ecosystem through the introduction of gender-responsive and inclusive financial instruments, advocacy for increased participation of women on boards and in senior management and support for capacity building initiatives to enable companies achieve their gender-related aspirations”, he said.