Janet Sape

Tayor said the late Janet was an aggressive and enthusiastic supporter of the financial empowerment of women in PNG.

Taylor said this when acknowledging the progress PNG has made in making finance accessible for women.

She highlighted the establishment of the Women in Business which the late Janet Sape was an integral founder.

“I commend Papua New Guinea Women in Business which has established itself as a voice for all women in this country, particularly the most marginalized.

This was one of the best accolades bestowed on renowned businesswoman and woman leader, who founded the first Women in Business bank, the late Janet Sape.

The final respects were paid in her honour at the CRC Bethel Centre at Waigani today.

The church was filled with people, not only relatives but those whose lives were impacted one way or another by this great woman.

TVWAN spoke with Sape this morning, who is appealing to the general public to stop spreading pointless rumours.

She said she needs her privacy and would appreciate it if people respected that.

Meanwhile, Sape is one of the 38 candidates that are contesting the Moresby North-West seat, which is undergoing quality checks.

This in itself is a great achievement, according to founder Janet Sape, noting the customers are mostly grassroot women.

“These women are unbanked. They have their money with them in their bags and they cannot access banking services because they don’t know how to,” she said.

Janet is also the founder of the Women in Business, a body that has been actively driving financial literacy among the women population.

“We try to meet and network with the women and try to help, empower them grow,” she said.

This challenge has been put forward by Janet Sape, the overall winner of the 2015 WOW awards.

Sape was recognised last year for her passion and commitment to ensuring financial literacy and banking services equally reach the illiterate women population of PNG.

The founder of PNG Women in Business is grateful to Westpac for the prestigious award, which she says has complimented her work over the years.

She is confident it would be better for the winners to work closely with the bank, especially to reach out to communities.

Speaking at the opening of the expo Women in Business president Janet Sape told the women that it is their chance in showcasing PNG through the expo.

"It is our time as we will be showing what we have to our Pacific Island countries who are in the country for the Pacific Games."

She said for us to be known, the expo is the venue to start with.

The expo was officially opened by Prime Minister Peter O'Neill.