Access Bank partners Lafarge Africa to bridge gender gap in manufacturing sector

The Executive Director, Access Bank, Elias Igbin-Akenzua, said that 'approximately 600,000 manufacturing jobs are unfilled because companies can't find qualified workers for them.

He said this during a workshop organised by Access Bank's 'W Initiative' for women in collaboration with Lafarge Africa Plc recently.

He said women are critical to filling this gap and must be empowered to do so.

'We must also reduce the barriers for women in manufacturing in accessing funds from financial institutions for those who may want to transit from employees to manufacturing business owners,' Igbin-Akenzua said

The MD Geocycle, Lafarge Africa Plc, Mrs. Adepeju Adebajo, said women represent the  largest pool of untapped talent and the dearth of women in manufacturing has been made more prominent recently due to the shortage of manpower facing the industry.

Mrs. Adebajo sought for support, coaching and encouragement for more women to be recruited and retained in manufacturing, adding that women have become leading industry players in different sectors which were for long the preserve of men – including manufacturing