Unlocking The Potential Of Women

UNLOCKING THE POTENTIAL OF OUR WOMEN

Sim Tshabalala Chief Executive Officer at Standard Bank Group Ltd.

I firmly believe that society cannot truly prosper if women are not fully empowered and on the same footing as men.

Working towards gender equality is, of course, a moral obligation. It’s absolutely the right thing to do – and it also makes economic sense. By denying a group that accounts for more than half of Africa, and indeed half of the world’s population, their full rights and opportunities, we are simply holding back growth and human development.

We’ve made great progress over the past few decades - better representation of girls and women in our education systems, governments and private companies, and a lot of female presence in senior decision making positions. However, there’s a risk that the COVID-19 pandemic will hinder our progress.

“WE CANNOT LET THE PANDEMIC HALT ORREVERSE THE PROGRESS THAT WE HAVE MADE IN TERMS OF GENDER EQUALITY”

We’ve all seen distressing reports of girls being forced to drop out of school. And women are likely to bear the brunt of the economic downturn. We also know that while access to funding is central to the survival of many small businesses, amidst the pandemic, women entrepreneurs face significantly greater obstacles than men when it comes to accessing financial services. We also saw that instances of gender based violence increased at an alarming rate in 2020 with the national lock downs and curfews.

We cannot let the pandemic halt or reverse the progress that we have made in terms of gender equality. The Standard Bank remains committed to playing its part and to building on the gains that we’ve made in recent years.

We are continuously making sure that we are working to improve the representation of women in senior positions in our group. Indeed, at the end of 2019, women held 37% of board positions and 40.3% of senior management positions. Yet we are fully aware that this is not sufficient. It’s just not enough.

We are working to meet, and hopefully, exceed our targets in the years ahead. We aim to have women holding 40% of the group executive positions by 2023.

Further, the UN Women, HeForShe initiative inspired us to set a target of at least 20% female chief executives within the company by 2021. HeForShe is rooted in the very important understanding that gender equality would only be achieved with the involvement of men.

We have launched a range of initiatives to support the HeForShe movement. These include critical conversation sessions, debates about various aspects of gender equity, sessions to engage men in conversations about gender, and the ongoing focus on leadership development for women.

We recently launched the African Woman Impact Fund, which aims to empower woman asset-managers who are willing to invest in female owned businesses across the continent. The fund aims to raise a total of $100-million.

Another exciting initiative focuses specifically on the agricultural sector in Malawi, Nigeria, South Africa, and Uganda in partnership with UN Women. We are addressing gender gaps in the sector while also improving the industry’s resilience to climate change. The programme aims to reach a target of over 50,000 women in three years.

We are providing the women in the programme with entrepreneurial skills and access to affordable technology, so as to increase access to markets and finance projects. We are guided by the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, which aim to align the strategies of the banking industry with society’s aspirations as expressed by the Sustainable Development Goals and other international frameworks.

We are focused on doing business the right way and on supporting inclusive and sustainable growth.

Standard Bank’s purpose is to drive Africa’s growth - this is only possible if women are truly empowered. While COVID-19 poses risks to the progress towards gender equality, it has also given us all an opportunity to reflect on the kind of future that we want.

As we work through the crisis, we need to be empathetic leaders who search for innovative solutions to the challenges we face. These are qualities that many women possess, which is yet another reason why we need to ensure that women are better represented in decision making in society.

If Africa manages to fully unlock the potential of its women, the continent’s economy will defy even the most optimistic growth forecasts.