African Companies’ Competitive Edge – Women?

 Role models of strong female leadership and gender balancing companies are emerging across corporate Africa. 20-first’s 2020 Gender Balance Scorecard – Focus on Africa reveals the continent’s top companies seem to be ahead of their Western counterparts in terms of the gender balance of their Executive Teams. Will Africa fuel its rise with gender-balanced talent?

The emergence of Africa onto the global stage provides an exciting opportunity. “After centuries on the periphery,” observes The Economist, “Africa is set to play a much more important role in global affairs, the global economy and the global imagination.” As the continent’s top companies climb the global rankings, will they shake up the slow-moving norms on the gender balance of richer regions? Four African nations – Benin, Burundi, Zambia, and Guinea – are among the world’s top 10 countries in terms of the economic participation of women.

Dr. Anino Emuwa is CEO of Avandis Consulting (a partner in producing this Scorecard). She is also the Founder of the Africa Women CEOs Network which connects over 300 of the continent’s top female business leaders and entrepreneurs. “Africa is starting to be recognized for its gender-balanced advancement,” she notes referring to a range of reports, including the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Index.

Africa’s population is set to increase by 50% over the next two decades and will surpass 1.8 billion people by 2035 – a jaw-dropping quarter of the world’s total. If its GDP growth keeps pace, notes some observers, Nigeria’s economy could overtake France or Germany in size. No surprise, then, that many are looking to Africa as the continent that will drive change and innovation. It’s not just the size of its population that beckons, but also its youth. By 2035, sub-Saharan Africa will boast the youngest population in the world and be one of the rare regions of our aging world where what is now considered ‘working-age’ individuals will outnumber the over-65. Richer countries, including Japan, are introducing drastic measures to sustain sagging population levels. This leads to a growing number of commentators predicting this may be Africa’s century – and it may be powering ahead with the early integration of women in the economy and private sector.

The 2020 Gender Balance Scorecard – Focus on Africa looks at the balance of the Executive Teams of the top five companies across four African regions – North, East, South, and West. Of these companies’ 210 Executive Team members, the gender ratio is 77% men and 23% women. That is above the global average, which was below 15% in our 2018 Global Scorecard. A promising advantage for the region’s future, and some great role models for the continent’s talent.

“There are instructive case studies in Africa of progressive government measures driving gender balance in business,” explains Dr. Anino. “Rwanda’s President, Paul Kagame, for example, has been a vocal advocate for gender parity. He spearheaded policy changes in the law, promoted education for girls, and introduced a constitutional minimum threshold for female parliamentarians of 30%. Interestingly, Rwanda’s share of women parliamentarians has now grown to over 60%, the highest ratio in the world.

In Nigeria, women Chair four of the country’s 24 major commercial banks (First Bank, GTB, Access, and Union Bank). “This is the legacy of the former CBN governor, Muhammadu Sanusi II,” explains Dr. Anino, “who championed building more gender balance on bank boards.” As in our Scorecard and reporting on India, several women have been CEOs of Nigeria’s biggest banks. This is in stark contrast to the US, where the first female CEO of a major bank, Janet Fraser of Citibank, was just appointed this year.

POWER vs INFLUENCE  

The majority (54%) of the women on the Executive Teams of Africa’s top countries are in line roles, compared to 46% in staff roles. So not only do Africa’s top companies have more women at the top, but they also appoint them to more powerful profit and loss (P&L) roles rather than the staff or support roles still common in many companies in our global benchmarks. A recent BoardEx study across 26 wealthy nations showed the majority of women in executive teams of top companies were in positions of ‘influence’ (e.g. staff positions like legal and HR) rather than positions of ‘power’ with P&L responsibility (like general management).

REGIONAL DIFFERENCES

As the world’s second-most populous continent (following Asia), it is important to note the massive differences within and across Africa, and how this influences the development and size of companies – and their gender balance. To get a sense of the regional variations and attitudes, the Scorecard looked at the top companies in each region (North, East, South, and West).

The South region has the highest average percentage of women (30%) on Executive Teams across its top companies and 16 of the top 20 companies are South African. The East region has the greatest number of companies ranked as ‘Critical Mass,’ meaning they have three or more women on their Executive Teams. While it’s the North that trails behind, with three of the continent’s five companies ranked as ‘Asleep’ on gender balance. Sub-Saharan African has the highest rate of female entrepreneurship in the world according to the Global Entrepreneurship Monitor.

These regional discrepancies mirror similar variations across other regions of the world, like Europe and Asia. Individual African countries will be yet another place to assess the competitive advantages – for both countries and companies – of tapping into 100% of the talent and the market.

LOOKING TO THE FUTURE

The important lesson to be learned from Africa in terms of driving gender balance is that transformation can happen quickly – and deliver immediate benefits. “Achieving gender balance,” reminds Dr. Anino, “is primarily the responsibility of the people who run organizations, rather than the out-of-power group. When powerful leaders act, change happens fast.” As Africa rises, women may be the continent’s unexpected competitive edge. Watch this space.

Forbes