Absa Bank Seychelles celebrates women’s day through ongoing community support and customer networking |11 March 2023

Souvenir photo of the cheque presentation ceremony (Photo: Contributed)

To commemorate international women’s day on Wednesday and the bank’s newly reiterated commitment with the Women in Action and Solidarity group, Absa Bank Seychelles’ managing director Nazim Mahmood handed over a cheque for R20,000 to Rose-Mary Elizabeth, chairperson of the non-government organisation, to help in the purchase of three sewing machines.

 Also present for the ceremony held at the bank were Alvin Laurence, chief executive of the Citizens Engagement Platform (Ceps);Mrs Elizabeth’s successorFlorence Monnaie; Julita Vidot, a volunteer sewing instructor with the Women in Action and Solidarity (Waso); and Ceps’ representative Marion Orphée.

The donation will go towards re-skilling vulnerable Seychellois women and allow them to learn a new life-skill while providing opportunities to expand into the small to medium enterprise sector.

“We have a vested, long-term interest in supporting development in Seychelles and we recognise that we need to play our part in enabling inclusive growth and delivering financial services in a socially and environmentally responsible way. This also includes how and what we fund,” said managing director of Absa Bank Seychelles, Nazim Mahmood when speaking at the ceremony.

“We want to be there for our communities when they need us the most through championing diversity and inclusion, supporting education and skills development and providing inclusive financial services to small and medium enterprises (SMEs), women and youth,” he added.

By working with leading specialists to empower young people with the training and tools that they need for employment and entrepreneurship in the workplace of the future, Absa Seychelles believes in supporting and promoting youth employability and skills development such as through our ReadytoWork platform that offers essential training for budding entrepreneurs. Previous partnerships have included promoting tertiary education, technical and vocational skills as well as general financial literacy.

Waso has been one of the bank’s valued stakeholders over the years through a number of partnerships. This includes business start-up training workshops for potential women entrepreneurs and similar support towards re-skilling Seychellois women in 2019.  

 As part of the women’s day celebrations, the bank also hosted an intimate networking event for some of its female customers. One of Absa Seychelles’ board members, Veronique Laporte spoke of the importance of solidarity among women. She reiterated the importance of inclusion and an overall commitment to gender equity while celebrating our female customers.

Contributed