Transcorp Hotels, Guinness Nig. and United Bank for Africa have topped the list of companies with the most female gender representation on their boards among the NGX-30 listed companies.
This was unveiled at the launch of the NGX-30 Board Gender Diversity Scorecard compiled by PWR Adisory held in Lagos.
Speaking on the importance of female gender representation on the boards of companies, Ivana Osagie, founder/CEO, of PWR Advisory, said that gender inclusion is not a women-only issue but a business imperative and a strategic issue.
“Gender diversity is a risk management strategy because having the perspective of men and women around the table enables more informed and improved decision-making. It reduces groupthink, narrows blind spots, and helps to eliminate biases.”
“Business outcomes are better and productivity is higher. If you think about it, most companies on the stock exchange sell services and products to men and women. So, having the men and women in the boardroom enables them to be more in touch and reflective of their customer base,” she said.
Women make up 62.5 per cent of board members in Transcorp Hotels, an improvement from the 50 per cent women made up in 2023.
Guinness Nigeria plc is the only company with a female board chair, with 54.5 per cent of female board members, up from 45.5 per cent female representation last year.
However, the percentage of females on the UBA board fell by 14 per cent from 53.3 per cent in 2023 to 46.7 per cent in 2024.
Abimbola Babalola, head, of trading and products, at Nigerian Exchange Limited, encouraged other companies to shore up female representation on their boards to improve board performance.
“Empirical evidence shows that management teams made up of mostly women tend to outperform the ones where they’re not even represented. So I won’t be surprised that the leadership in Transcorp recognises their contribution and what women can bring on board, which is why they are even exceeding the target. I think all that should learn from that,” he said.
Osagie further stated “Research shows that for minorities to influence change, they must hit a minimum of 30%. So, anything out of balance of more than 30-70% is a problem. I think Transcorp also needs to be careful because just as we don’t want too many men and not enough women, we also don’t want too many women and not enough men,” she said.
Nigeria’s gender scorecard is above the global average
According to the 2024 PWR Advisory NGX-30 Board Gender Diversity Scorecard, the percentage of female board directors on the NGX-30 companies, rose from 27.9 percent last year, to 29.7 percent in 2024.
This means that out of 323 board seats on the NGX-30 listed companies, women occupy only 96 seats in 2024. Globally, women held less than one-quarter of the world’s board seats, making 23.3 per cent in 2023.
“It’s nice that we are above the global average. That’s about representation, and that’s a good place to start. But it’s more important to make the numbers around the table count. So we can have women in the boardroom, but are they fully included in all the decision-making? Do the decisions get made outside the boardroom, in the boys’ club? Or are the women involved in the absolute nitty-gritty of decision-making, and able to influence?”
“Inclusion is really where the power is at. So now that we’re hitting the representation, I think we need to aim to drive inclusion and ensure that we make sure that those numbers around the table matter,” Osagie added.
