Ghana’s largest privately-owned indigenous bank, Fidelity Bank Ghana, has launched a 5-year Gender Action Plan to promote gender inclusion in accessing financial services. This plan has aims to position the bank as the benchmark for gender-inclusive banking in Ghana.
The bank, in partnership with AfricInvest and BIO Invest, has engaged Value for Women – a specialised advisory firm that works with organisations globally to advance gender equity – to develop a 5-year Gender Action Plan that translates the bank’s commitment into action.
Through this commitment, Fidelity Bank will enhance product and service design to ensure that it meets the financial and non-financial needs of women and men in Ghana. Beyond that, the bank will consciously ensure equitable representation of men and women across all levels within the organisation.
Speaking on the 5-year gender action plan, Managing Director of Fidelity Bank Julian Opuni explained: “As a responsible bank, we believe that gender inclusion is integral in building sustainable businesses and equitable economies. Over the years, Fidelity Bank has supported businesses, especially SMEs, run by both men and women. This five-year plan we are adopting will however be a game-changer for the bank, and contribute significantly to our efforts as a country in achieving the SDGs – especially SDG5 on Gender Equality”.
Mr. Opuni revealed that the action plan was developed following a holistic 360-degree gender diagnostic process in assessing the current state of gender inclusion at Fidelity Bank and opportunities for improving practices, as well as a series of collaborative workshops with senior and executive management.
“I am confident that this initiative has the potential to be a key differentiating factor for our bank, positioning us as a gender-inclusive bank for both employees and customers while boosting our business performance,” he added.
“It has been an inspiring experience to work with Fidelity Bank Ghana as they embark on their journey toward greater gender inclusion,” states Rebecca Fries, Co-Founder and CEO at Value for Women. “It was clear from the beginning that the bank has strong ambitions on this front, and through visionary leadership is striving to set an example for gender-inclusive practices in the financial services industry.
“The gender action plan documents a holistic vision to support women as leaders, entrepreneurs and employees, along with ensuring the bank provides a workplace that allows all staff to grow and thrive. We look forward to supporting the bank over the coming five years as they continue to implement these strategies.”
Fidelity Bank
In a little over a decade, Fidelity Bank Ghana has grown from a discount house to a Tier-1 Bank and is now the largest privately-owned Ghanaian bank in Ghana. The bank currently serves its approximately 2 million customers at 75 branches across Ghana, and is a leader in the digital banking space.
The bank has two subsidiaries – Fidelity Asia Bank Limited, which is a wholly-owned subsidiary in Malaysia; and Fidelity Securities Limited, an asset management firm. In a short period of time, Fidelity Bank has become a household name in Ghana by adopting a customer-centric culture and delivering consistently on the promise of making a difference in the lives of all stakeholders.
Value for Women
Value for Women (VfW) is a women-led global social enterprise that works closely with partners to design and implement research, technical assistance programmes, evaluations, tools and blended capacity-building initiatives in Africa, Asia and Latin America – focused on investors and businesses in emerging markets. VfW helps organisations to advance gender inclusion.
We believe that women are key drivers of economic and social growth, and that women’s inclusion is essential for better business outcomes. We identify and test new solutions which foster inclusion while unlocking the powerful economic potential that women hold. Specifically, we support our partners seeking business and social returns in diverse sectors, such as finance, agriculture and clean energy, by providing research and technical advisory support.
