IN BOARDROOMS across Papua New Guinea, the conversation is shifting.
For too long, finance has been treated as a closed-door specialized language spoken by a select few.
Last week, Nasfund Chief Financial Officer Debbie Oli decided to fling that door wide open.
Speaking to Cohort 23 of the Business Coalition for Women’s (BCFW) Senior Executive Women’s Programme (SEWP), Ms. Oli delivered a lecture on balance sheets, arming a room full of PNG’s rising women executives with financial empowerment and confidence.
The three-month leadership initiative brings together women from diverse professional backgrounds. Some walked into Ms. Oli’s session with years of corporate experience but zero finance background; others sat alongside finance specialists.
“The program had a mix of women with no finance background at all and some finance specialists,” Ms. Oli said.
“My presentation focused on helping participants understand how to interpret financial statements.”
Instead of hiding behind corporate jargon, Ms. Oli broke down the fundamentals.
She guided the leaders through the three pillars of business reporting; the Balance Sheet, the Income Statement, and the Cash Flow Statement; showing how each tells a story about an organization’s health, performance, and sustainability.
For women stepping into senior management, understanding those stories isn’t optional; it is essential.
Ms. Oli emphasized the importance of recognizing the role of finance in any organization, teaching participants how to spot critical financial indicators and warning signs before making major strategic decisions.
But the empowerment didn’t stop at the office door.
Drawing from her wealth of expertise, Ms. Oli brought the lesson home, introducing practical tools like the Supa Calculator to help participants look at their own long-term financial wellbeing, retirement savings, and the biting reality of inflation.
“The exercise allowed participants to see how their spending habits could impact their future savings and to explore options that could help increase their Super balance over time,” she explained.
Reflecting on the session, Ms. Oli said the gathering turned into an interactive, meaningful conversation centered squarely on giving women the tools they need to make informed financial decisions, both professionally and personally.
The SEWP continues to equip Papua New Guinean women leaders with the knowledge, skills, and networks needed to thrive in senior leadership roles.
