Women still shunned in board positions, says governance report
Saturday July 22 2017
Women’s representation as company boards chairperson’s positions are heavily skewed towards the male gender. PHOTO | FILE
Kenya has emerged as the continent’s trailblazer in championing women’s representation in top management of companies, despite failing to attain the constitutional one-third gender requirement.
A report by the Kenya Institute of Management (KIM) and the Nairobi Securities Exchange (NSE) shows that listed multinationals fared better than indigenous firms in women representation on boards, at 27 per cent, against 20 per cent.
The number of women in boards rose to 21 per cent this year, from 18 per cent in 2015 and 12 per cent five years ago.
“The number of women heading boards remains low, with just five of the 52 (out of 62) listed companies that responded in the survey headed by a woman, similar to what it was five years ago. We also note that like in the boardroom, women representation in senior management was a quarter, meaning that there is one woman for every four men in the senior management teams,” said KIM chief executive Muriithi Ndegwa.
In terms of the average representation on boards of women, Africa came fourth at 13 per cent behind Europe and Australia at 26 per cent and North America at 20 per cent. The ratio was however higher than South America at eight per cent and Asia at nine per cent.
NSE chief executive officer Geoffrey Odundo said that the presence of a diverse and inclusive organisation is one of the greatest business catalysts that exist to broaden the talent pipeline, enhance brand and corporate reputation.
“For diversity and inclusion to be successful, it must be embedded, supported and exposed to the right conditions over time. This joint effort requires the commitment of individuals throughout all levels of the organisation. Allowing firms to appoint members on a voluntary basis means that they will take on those whose skills and competencies best fit the positions. Legislation is an enabler, but it (the appointments) should be more of a voluntary aspect,” said Mr Odundo.
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In Kenya, women chairs of listed companies are Standard Chartered’s Anne Mutahi, Isabella Ocholla-Wilson of Unga Limited, Lucy Waithaka of Eveready East Africa, Catherine Ngahu of Uchumi and Liberty Kenya Holdings’ Susan Mboya-Kidero.
“We note that women’s representation as boards chairperson’s positions are also heavily skewed towards the male gender, with 7.7 per cent being women. Only five companies out of the 52 had female chairpersons, which compares well with the global average,” the report’s lead researcher and KIM’s head of business intelligence and research division Samuel Njihia said.