Africa-Press – Tanzania. Gender diversity on boards of companies and institutions is critical to sustaining performance, increasing the size of the candidate pool as well as expanding perspectives at the top, experts have said.
Women In Management Africa (WIMA) in partnership with PWR Advisory – an Africa focused leadership, diversity and inclusion consulting firm- have urged for more women inclusion in companies and institutions’ boards.
They argued that there is enough evidence backing up the benefits of having both women and men around the table, when making critical decisions that determine the success of a company.
WIMA released the first edition of ‘Gender Diversity’ scorecard, which analyses the level of female representation on the boards of the 28 companies listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock Exchange (DSE)
The founder and Chief Executive Officer (CEO) of WIMA, Ms Naike Moshi said, “The 2021 gender scorecard reported that females in Tanzania occupies only 21.6 per cent of the board presentation in the listed companies to date.”
She said more is needed to be done to accelerate board gender diversity and unlock untapped value for companies and society at large. “We believe, if everyone takes charge with concerted multi-stakeholder effort over the next 12 months, the participation of women on boards in Tanzania can increase significantly.”
Ms Moshi added, “The report shows that 28.6 per cent of the companies have at least 30 per cent female representation on their boards.”
According to research, minorities start to have impact at a 30 per cent representation threshold. One company (3.6 per cent) is led by a female CEO. None of the 28 listed companies has a female board chair, while 25 per cent of listed companies do not have any female representation on their boards.
It also highlights that, 40 per cent of companies in the commercial services sector have at least a 30 per cent female board representation. This is the highest across all sectors followed by the banks, finance and investment sectors, where 30.7 per cent of the companies have at least a 30 per cent female board representation.
The only company with a female CEO is in the banks, finance and investment sectors. The oil and gas is the only sector that have no female board representation at all.
However, there is only one company in this sector listed on the Dar es Salaam Stock exchange. “The industrial and allied sector has the highest number of companies with a zero per cent female board representation,” she ended.
Businesses and communities in Tanzania and across the African continent in general will reap significant economic return by fully unleashing the full potential of half the population. Corporate boards as custodians of economic prosperity have a key role to play in achieving this.
According to Ivana Osagie – Founder and CEO of PWR Advisory, “In the increasingly complex and volatile business environment with exponential levels of risk that companies operate in today, there is safety in diversity.
It is a valid risk mitigation strategy. Furthermore, our world is crying out for more inclusiveness. Inclusive leadership can be the game changer for bridging gaps and achieving inclusive growth in our economies. It’s a win-win for all.”
