Take Five: "For a woman to succeed, she needs to be three times more prepared for any meeting and work twice hard"

Lyazzat Ibragimova, CEO of Otbasy Bank in Kazakhstan, is a distinguished banker and a recognized gender equality champion, both in Kazakhstan and on the international financial stage. Under her leadership, a pioneering loan program supporting women entrepreneurs was launched, marking a first for Central Asia. Additionally, her bank has unveiled the region's inaugural women's mortgage program, which was honored last year by the Asian Development Bank's Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation Program. Otbasy Bank has been a WEPs signatory since 2022.

What prompted you to sign the WEPs Principles?  

Last year, Otbasy Bank joined the Women's Empowerment Principles (WEPs). The WEPs initiative comprises seven principles that help companies and organizations embed gender equality and empower women in their work, in business, and in society at large. Using Otbasy Bank as an example, I can confidently say that we do not just declare these principles; we have been applying them in practice for a long time. All of them are relevant to us.  

For example, the share of women in our personnel structure is 60%. Women serve as members of the Board of Directors and the Management Board, and hold managerial positions. In the IT department, a quarter of our developers and analysts are women. According to last year’s results, 51% of female employees received training and improved their qualifications. Additionally, the share of women who received various incentives from the bank is 55%.  

In 2021, we increased our participation in international initiatives related to gender equality.  

What measures do you think are needed to increase the representation of Kazakhstani women at management boards and boards of directors in the corporate sector? 

It should be recognized that the requirements for women and their professionalism in the corporate sector are often higher than for men. For a woman to succeed, she needs to be three times more prepared for any meeting and work twice as hard as her male counterparts.  

Women who strive to build a brilliant career often face prejudice. Therefore, I advise women to develop their professional competencies like muscles; it takes substantial time and effort to succeed. 

Women are also endowed with additional roles—wives and mothers—and balancing these responsibilities with a career can be challenging. Often, after graduating from university, women start families, and traditional gender responsibilities are clearly defined: men earn money, and a husband's career is seen as an obligatory part of family success. In contrast, a woman's career tends to be relegated to the background, as she must focus on childbirth, childcare, and maintaining the home. Accordingly, women are often pressured to make difficult choices. 

I believe that a female leader must possess great vitality, perseverance, and self-confidence to tackle all these challenges??? 

What is the main value you see behind the UMAI mortgage for women?  

Otbasy Bank launched UMAI - Kazakhstan's first women's mortgage program. It was designed to help Kazakh women to improve their housing conditions and become true, full-fledged owners of their own homes. Over the course of three years—from 2021 to 2023—the bank assisted 3,700 Kazakhstani women in celebrating housewarmings, amounting to 41.2 billion tenge. Last year, Otbasy Bank was the only institution in Kazakhstan to receive an award from the Central Asia Regional Economic Cooperation (CAREC) program. We were recognized as a gender equality champion for the successful implementation of the UMAI women’s housing program. 

What policies are in place in the bank to protect employees from gender discrimination and violence? 

Since this year, our bank has been working within the framework of the newly approved strategy for 2024-2033, where the ESG transformation of the bank's operations has become a strategic choice. ESG management will be integrated into all levels of the bank's organizational structure. In the new strategy, we define the main areas of development in the field of sustainable development. This includes implementing initiatives aimed at supporting women, launching special women's housing programs, creating equal working conditions and career opportunities, and ensuring an equal performance evaluation and remuneration system. 

Our bank is also governed by a Human Rights Regulation. Its basic principles and commitments guarantee non-discrimination, including gender discrimination. In addition, the bank annually develops a Gender Equality Action Plan and prepares an annual report on its implementation. The bank has a Personnel Policy, Sustainable Development Policy, and Code of Business Ethics, which also regulate the prevention of discrimination based on sex, age, race, political, religious, and gender grounds. 

What do you see as your organization's role and contribution to the empowerment of women and girls in Kazakhstan? 

Otbasy Bank is the only bank in Kazakhstan that implements a system of housing construction savings. Using this tool, Kazakhstani women can address their housing needs effectively. They are successfully utilizing it. Currently, Otbasy Bank has collected 1.3 trillion tenge, or $2.7 billion, in savings accounts opened by Kazakhstani women. In most cases, women are the ones who take the initiative to open deposits and save for their own homes. 

At present, Otbasy Bank has almost 2.7 million deposits, with the majority of these savings accounts opened by women. Women open deposits not only for themselves but also for their children, including daughters. As the child grows, the woman accumulates funds in the deposit, enabling the young Kazakhstani woman to purchase her own living space on affordable terms upon reaching adulthood. This greatly enhances confidence and provides stability and independence to young girls. 

Globally, women are becoming increasingly economically active. They are spending more, which boosts consumer demand, and are more proficient at repaying debts. Women also constitute 54.7% of our bank's borrowers. In all banks worldwide, including Otbasy Bank, the share of female borrowers among the total number of overdue loans is generally lower. 

In the future, we will continue to create a fair, safe, and equal working environment for our colleagues and support Kazakhstani women in meeting their housing needs.