A cardinal target of the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs) launched by the United Nations in 2000 is the promotion of gender equality in all spheres of life and the empowerment of women to attain leadership roles. The MDG target is arguably a spinoff from the Beijing Conference in 1995, where 31,000 women from 200 countries, including Nigeria, gathered to determine how to advance the cause of women globally. In line with the MDG on gender equality, private and public institutions continue to fashion their own unique ways to address this. Of note is Stanbic IBTC’s launch, last year, of an initiative it called the Blue Women Network (BWN) targeted at achieving gender balance and burnishing the financial institution’s reputation as an equal opportunity workplace.
It is 15 years since the MDGs commitment and we are in 2015, the magical year for the attainment of the goals, particularly gender balance. Yet, in spite of laudable initiatives such as the BWN, some argue that women are no nearer to workplace gender balance than they were in 2000. Many will argue that although slow, a noticeable progress has been made to empower women for leadership roles in business as well as in other spheres of life.
Today, a growing number of women are in leadership positions worldwide in all sectors of the economy, particularly in business. A survey of the Fortune 500 companies by Pew Research Center in 2014 showed that “26 women are serving as CEOs of Fortune 500 companies (5.2%). Just 20 years ago, there were no female CEOs of Fortune 500 companies.”
In Nigeria, the leadership landscape is gradually changing, with more women in commanding roles in governance, academics, business, construction, mining and other sectors. This was not the case 15 years ago. Speaking in 2013 on women in leadership at the Isaac Moghalu Foundation (IMOF) lecture, the then CBN governor, Lamido Sanusi, revealed that until recently at the over 55-year-old CBN, “only four women had made it to director level and this was a period when we had 10,000 staff. Today, we have seven or eight female directors. This comes from a conscious policy of looking for qualified women to take these positions.”
Indeed, in the banking sector, for instance, women are increasingly finding relevance as leaders. A leading example is Sola David-Borha, who is the CE of one of Nigeria’s leading financial institutions, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc.
Some will argue though that the progress made is negligible and fear it may remain so for a while longer. They point to the fact that women are still largely excluded from executive committee or board of directors positions that should act as conduits for the supply of CEOs. A UK-based global gender consulting firm, 20-first, in its 2014 annual gender balance scorecard showed that in the US, “men hold 83% of the executive committee positions within top companies” while the figure is “89% in Europe and 96% in Asia.” The picture is no different in Nigeria; board membership is still largely dominated by males.
To achieve a more balanced representation for both men and women in leadership roles, organizations must articulate clear policies and action points, otherwise, empowering women will be mere tokenism. Sanusi said the increase in the number of female directors at CBN “comes from a conscious policy of looking for qualified women to take these positions.” Mentoring will equally play a major part in establishing an assembly line of women ready for leadership roles.
Another “conscious policy” by the CBN was its ability to get a commitment from financial institutions that “at least 30% of the board seats in banks will be held by women and at least 40% of senior management positions will be held by women.” To ensure compliance, the apex bank required that “banks publish their gender positions alongside their statements of accounts.” No doubt, CBN’s efforts at achieving gender balance in leadership are highly commendable. The apex bank has shown leadership and thrown down the gauntlet for both the banking industry as well as other sectors of the economy.
There really is a huge opportunity to tap into the growing army of highly educated women and entrust them with responsibility in such a way as to harness their talents for strong business growth and profitability. And that is just half of the story. “The business case for gender diversity is clearer than ever. Women now control roughly $20 trillion of total consumer spending worldwide and influence up to 80% of the buying decisions,” says Linda Stewart, President and CEO, Interaction Associates, Inc.
In what appears to be a response to the CBN challenge, businesses in Nigeria, from telecoms, construction to insurance and oil and gas, are beginning to see the wisdom in giving women the reins. Indeed, Bola Adesola is yet another female bank CEO, calling the shots at Standard Chartered Bank. In a landmark appointment in 2014, German multinational giant, Siemens Nigeria Limited, chose Onyeche Tifase, a female, as its CEO. Mansard Insurance Plc is piloted by a female CEO, Yetunde Ilori and so is Nigeria Reinsurance Corporation, with Isioma Chukwuma as CEO. Yewande Sadiku is an Executive Director in Stanbic IBTC Bank, while Bunmi Dayo-Olagunju and Binta Max-Gbinije both head the Asset Management and Trustees subsidiaries in Stanbic IBTC IBTC Group. In the Information and Communications Technology space, Funke Opeke, CEO of MainOne is another admirable example. MTN’s Chief Technical Officer, Lynda Saint-Obi, is equally a lady and the industry’s only female CTO. Even the usually male-dominated oil and gas sector now has female CEOs, the most prominent being Catherine Uju Ifejika, who is the chairman/CEO of Britannia U Group, a conglomerate that controls over $4 billion in assets.
Stanbic IBTC Group’s Blue Women Network is clearly aimed at addressing the two key challenges to women empowerment in business – conscious policy as well as mentoring and support. The stated objectives of the network included the support of the all-round advancement of the female workforce in Stanbic IBTC through information sharing, best practices, learning and experience. The network equally hopes to render support in developing leadership skills and career advancement opportunities through mentoring and coaching. In essence, Stanbic IBTC’s Blue Women Network is expected to act as the conduit to churn out women leaders. According to David-Borha, who addressed a forum organized by the Network at the company’s head office in Walter Carrington Crescent, Lagos, recently, the expected impact of the initiative can only be limited by how well the womenfolk embrace its tenets to nurture and mold themselves into leaders.
Beyond giving women equal leadership opportunity in workplaces, business promoters are beginning to realize the huge impact diversified workplaces have on business growth and bottom line. “In fact, research shows that companies that achieve diversity in management and on their corporate boards achieve better financial results than other companies,” says Steward. Perhaps, it is no coincidence that organizations such as Stanbic IBTC Holdings where gender balance is valued continue to declare solid financial scorecards.
BBC Business reported that “a series of studies by Mckinsey titled ‘Women Matter’ found that companies with a higher proportion of female executives showed stronger financial performance than those with no women in top positions.” Women are said to “apply certain leadership behaviours, such as people development, setting expectations and rewards and acting as role models, more than men.” It is therefore not surprising that Pepsi Corporation, Stanbic IBTC, General Motors and IBM are a few examples of leading organizations headed by women that continue to churn out impressive results.
As Nigerian businesses become increasingly aware of gender corporate imbalance and make conscious efforts through initiatives such as the Blue Women Network to correct it, it is hoped that in the near future, we would have the first female CBN governor and perhaps more women leading many of the biggest companies in Nigeria.
Nnanna B. Nwafor
