It was the 22nd annual conference of Women in Management Business and Public Service Wimbiz held at Eko Hotels and suites Victoria Island, Lagos Nigeria.
A two days conference that was so inspiring, empowering and at the same time full of fun starting from Thursday November 2nd to Friday 3rd.
The Theme for the year was: Mission I’mPossible: Thrive!.
The reason the conference exist is to inspire women reach their full potential and achieve great feast in their respective fields.
Executive Director of WIMBIZ, Hansatu Adegbite, at day 1, said, Wimbiz excel because they are community of people that come and go, but, their challenges she noted, is, they have not told their stories the way it should, ” Our stories is in the seed we carry. There is need to constantly reignite women who carry seeds inside of them that still need to be activated for greatness. Women need to develop a resilient spirit and maintain a positive mindset so that the seed will be activated for greatness.
Adegbite commended brands, organizations from both the public and private sectors for their support, and founders for identifying when it was right and ensuring that WIMBIZ will thrive in the hands of the next generation of leaders.
Chief Executive Officer of Landmark Africa Group, Paul Onwuanibe, who was speaking as a keynote speaker, urged women not be discouraged when they fail, rather, they should be passionate about things they can do that others can not.” And when presented with an opportunity , do the best as you can because you may not have opportunity to change the narrative. He stated that understanding the market, knowing your number, integrity, and and honesty that makes one make decisions.
Co-founder, African Family Firms, Tsitsi Mutendi who was among the speakers in one of the plenary sessions on how to build SMEs said our challenges in business is that we do not tell our inheritance that they are going to be the inheritance. We do not communicate with them, but allow them to be title of it, that it is going to be theirs.
According to her, “they do not know how the wealth is built. How it started. You forget to tell them the story and you want your children to inherit your wealth that they do not even know how the wealth looks like,”
She reiterated that communication is the key to multi generational wealth. ”If you want a multi generational wealth you must go together. You must bring your children together to understand the business you are you are doing. Recognise your family members,” she stated.
Adding, CEO of Optiva Capital Partners Jane Kimemia-Nechi, urged women to stay through to who they are, find their way to service, define their positivity, be real and prepare to be lonely in as start ups.
CEO, Software Nigeria LTD, Simon Melchior in one his quotes while encouraging women start ups said; It always seem impossible until it is done. Do everything to make it done,”
He acknowledged the fact that we need more women in politics, Businesses, and IT.
(L-R) Folake Ogundipe, National Finance Director, Unilever Nigeria; Oluwatosin Ajibade, Founder of OloriSuperGal and Winner of the Unilever Centenary One Million Naira Grant; Bimbo Oloyede, CEO, Strictly Speaking and Chairperson, WIMBIZ 22nd Annual Conference; Godfrey Adejumoh, Head, Corporate Affairs and Sustainable Business, Unilever Nigeria and Osayi Alile, CEO, ACT Foundation and Member, Board of Trustees, WIMBIZ, at the presentation of the Unilever Centenary One Million Naira Grant during the ongoing WIMBIZ Conference recently in Lagos.
Also, the conference saw Media personality and founder of the blog Olorisupergal, Tosin Ajibade emerged the winner of the Unilever Nigeria centenary one-million-naira prize.
The award is part of the commemorations of Unilever Nigeria centenary anniversary and its commitment to women.
Women in Management, Business and Public Service (WIMBIZ) is a non-profit organisation that has, over the last 22 years, implemented programs that inspire, empower and advocate for a greater representation of women in leadership positions in the public and private sector.
WIMBIZ has a contributory associate pool of 2,130 accomplished women in management, business and public service. They collaborates with credible domestic and international organizations to deliver programs, which have positively influenced over 313,071 women to excel in their businesses and careers.
