Canon Central and North Africa announced, today, the launch of its ‘Women in Sales’ program that further fortifies the company’s commitment, dedication and support towards gender equality and empowerment of women, in celebration of Women’s Month 2022. Centered on the company’s core philosophy of ‘Kyosei’, the initiative will invite women from Central and North Africa, Middle-East and Turkey to advance their careers in sales by participating in a yearlong internship program with the company. Furthermore, fifty percent of the participants will also be given an opportunity to become full-time employees with the company, thus paving the path for their professional careers.

Women Empowerment – Key Ingredient for Economic and Social Growth

“Our constant endeavor at Canon has always been to educate and empower the communities we operate in, we achieve this through different initiatives and programs that are rolled out on a consistent basis, thus contributing towards our end goal of advancing the world we live in. Gender equality and empowerment of women are key ingredients to create an inclusive society as well as to attain economic growth.  The contribution of women towards Canon’s growth has been immense and this is evident in the 25% female representation in Sales in our CCNA region. The ‘Women in Sales’ initiative is a brilliant platform for women who want to kick-start their careers in sales, receive invaluable mentorship from industry experts along with the possibility of becoming a full-time employee with Canon. Similar to our other empowerment initiatives, the ‘Women in Sales’ program aims to create an enabling working environment for women by providing them the right set of tools required for professional success and satisfaction,” commented Veronica Juul-Nyholm, the human resource director at the company.

Holistic Development and Growth

The women-only initiative is being rolled out in different locations simultaneously across Central and North Africa, Middle-East, Turkey and has specifically created, developed and implemented for this region. The program will offer several modules including blended learnings to participants to enhance their skill set and knowledge in sales. Additionally, the yearlong internship will be dissected into two parts namely the training program along with on-the-job experience. Each participant will also be assigned a mentor thus ensuring support and guidance for every woman participating in the program. The company envisions raising female representation in Sales Management roles to a minimum of 35% and is optimistic that the ‘Women in Sales’ endeavor will sustain this vision.

The program kick-stared in February 2022 with ten women participants being selected from the different parts of the region namely Rahaf Alharbi, Ruba Moafa and Fatima Alamer from Riyadh - Saudi Arabia, Sila Ucar, Billur Konukcu and Senab Bayram from Istanbul - Turkey, Ajuma Gabriel from Lagos - Nigeria, Hind Abdoudaime from Casablanca - Morocco, Scholarstica Ochieng from Nairobi - Kenya and Shahnaz Bhandari from Dubai - UAE. The first phase of the program will focus on education, the second phase will involve execution and the third phase will include certification and on-boarding of successful participants into full-time Canon employees.