Africa-Press – Botswana. It is important to have more women in leadership as that would provide a different set of skills and perspective to governance, First Lady, Ms Neo Masisi said Saturday, during the inaugural Women’s Leadership Circle business forum held here.
“It is a fact that female leaders bring something extra to the table, which drives effective solutions.
And this unique sense of awareness allows women to study and uncover the finer details that may go unnoticed by others,” Ms Masisi said.
Quoting a report from McKinsey, the First lady said statistics in 2020 showed companies with gender diversity in the top quartile of their boards were 25 per cent more likely to deliver above-average profitability than companies in the bottom quartile,
She said as women continued to play an important role in society, and it was through such fora and interactions as the Women Leadership Circle that women could develop and grow other women including those with untapped potential.
In that way, she said, they could create a pool of powerhouses for innovative and creative solutions not only for promotion of gender equality but also to solve the country and world’s problems.
Ms Masisi said such engagements further supported the provisions of Sustainable Development Goal 5 on Gender Equality and empowerment of women and girls.
“Bring it home, our Botswana Vision 2036, under Pillar 2 on Human and Social Development, recognises gender equality as being central to socioeconomic, political and cultural development,” she said.
She therefore thanked the organisers of the event for coordinating the unique business forum titled ‘Investing Through Social Capital’ as it provided women from a diverse range of sectors andbackgrounds a networking platform.
“Ladies we must continue to honour, celebrate, support and uplift each other… it goes without saying that we must do the same within our families and communities.
In that way we will have a sense of purpose while leaving a positive lasting impact, for our children and their children,” she said.
For her part, BDP Women’s wing chairperson, Ms Peggy Serame said as the country continued to make strides in women empowerment, more work needed to be done to sustain the efforts and work towards a better day for women and the girl child.
Ms Serame said women occupied only a little over 35 per cent of leadership roles in the senior leadership of businesses in Botswana.
‘Therefore, the mission of gender equality needs constant nourishing and multi-stakeholder engagement and active support,” she said.
Transformation she said, needed support and empowerment of women by organisations, through, business networking and training so women could implement their brilliant, game-changing ideas.
“To this end, as the Women in Leadership Circle, we intend to keep the conversation alive and commit to being active forces for good,” Ms Serame said.
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