SAWIL wishes you a happy #IWD

International Womens' Day - #breakthebias

In a continent where women represent almost 50% of the population; constitute over half of it in countries with a solid SAWIL following/footprint, i.e. South Africa, Cameroon, Botswana, Uganda, Ghana, and Nigeria, women are unfortunately still underrepresented in decision-making, leadership, and executive positions. It is worth noting that three of these countries, Nigeria, South Africa and Ghana, are amongst the continent's leading Top 10 economic hubs.?

As part of our ongoing research and pursuit to drive change and enforce meaningful strategies that will accelerate the Gender Equality agenda, we posed a question to nine Trailblazing Women in the continent:?

The year is 2030, and we have miraculously managed to integrate the continent and you are appointed as the first President of the United States of Africa;?

What is your dream for our youth and women as leaders, entrepreneurs, and professionals on the continent??

?1. From South Africa, Fhulufhelo Badugela - Multichoice Africa CEO: "As a leader in a business which not only embraces Africa's diversity but celebrates it through its content, my dream is very closely linked to what I do every day.?I wholeheartedly believe that the potential of our youth and women will only be realised when we begin to cultivate an ecosystem which allows them to leverage their unique talents and our continent's resources beyond extractive industries.?My dream is that young people and women across this continent will be able to work together across borders, learning from each other and using their collective experience and strengths to solve Africa's problems and propel the continent forward."?

2. From Ghana,?Kosi Yankey - Ayeh ,?CEO: Ghana Enterprise Agency:?"A united Africa where women, and youth are able bring about change. Where there is peace and security and equal opportunities for education, jobs, for women, girls, and youth in general. An Africa where women are empowered, I also hope to use any opportunity and through the platform to bring about equal access to resources or the factors of production for women, an Enabling environment, and the requisite infrastructure for innovation to thrive and in the long term bring about high living standards (with necessities of life: water, sanitation, peace and security)"

3. From Nigeria,?Owen Omogiafo, Group CEO: Transcorp PLC , Nigeria:?"My dream is for every African youth to have access to world class education, job enrichment, and a platform to create an Africa that supports, nurtures and drives the achievement of the dreams and aspirations of our young generation. When I think of the African woman, my dream would be for her to be safe, protected, educated and provided for. My dream is also for the African woman to have agency over every aspect of her future?and path in life. I would like to see an Africa where men and women can attain any height that they desire; a truly equitable society, where there is no glass ceiling and merit is earned purely on capacity and competence. If we can simply create a united, prosperous Africa, that inspires hope and patriotism, where talent is retained rather than exported and where the future holds endless potential for overall development, I would consider this a dream come true."

4. From Nigeria,?Dupe Olusola , CEO: Transcorp Hotels PLC, Nigeria:?"I am a strong advocate for women empowerment, and an avid believer in the capability of women to make our world a better place, whether as leaders, entrepreneurs, or professionals in different fields. It is my dream that one day women in Africa will live in a continent where we do not need policies to ensure fair representation in leadership, both political and corporate. Our youth are the continent's greatest resource, and the future of Africa depends on them. I dream of a future where youth take their rightful place in leadership and be the kind of leaders they have always asked for."

5. From South Africa, Mapula Bodibe, Chief Consumer Officer, MTN South Africa:?"My dream for African women is to promote gender equality to drive inclusive growth and reduce poverty. Women’s economic empowerment through skills transfer, access to finance and entrepreneurship opportunities sets women up on the path to a better future. I believe Investing in women’s education and development is the most critical step in the journey towards the empowerment of African women. The development and training of women will help them to earn a living and increase their household income which can drive economic growth because educated women can boost overall productivity in the economy which will improve GDP. One of the other important gateways to economic growth is access to digital technologies. The African continent still has the second largest gender gap in mobile telecommunications. According to the GSMA Mobile Gender Gap Report 2019, women in low - and middle-income countries are 10% less likely than men to own a mobile device, and 23% less likely to make use of the internet, compared to their male counterparts. Digital and internet access can be the lever that opens many doors for women and the focus should be on creating women-friendly products to drive digital inclusion and spreading the use of digital services to empower female entrepreneurs to unlock economic opportunities. MTN’s belief system is that “everyone deserves the benefit of a modern connected life. To guarantee this, MTN strives to ensure that men and women benefit equally from ICT thereby assisting to reduce inequalities that exist across its footprint. MTN is focused on enabling access to digital resources for women, as well as equipping them with the knowledge, training, and confidence to use digital technologies. MTN is also focused on providing women with greater access to financial services and other sources of financing to drive financial inclusion and help reduce economic disparities."

6. From Cameroon,?Gwendoline ABUNAW, Managing Director: Ecobank, CEMAC Region:?"My dream for our youth and women as leaders is to have well-educated and experienced leaders in various domains of governance; massive participation in political parties and in leadership; increase membership in legislative and regulatory institutions; increase number of heads of public and private organizations; increase number of associations of youth and women in various domains of governance. For our entrepreneurs, I dream of educated and experienced entrepreneurs in all sectors, with a keen focus on the youth and women moving into this segment of the economy for better opportunities for self-sustenance as they remain the most vulnerable layer of our population. Equally important would be to create institutions focused on training and delivering value added services to entrepreneurs as well as establishing collaborative relationships with related government entities. And finally, for professionals, access to great education and training, integration in public and private sectors institutions, as well as embedding a culture that encourages professional excellence and development through established institutions of the states."?

7. From Botswana,?Dr Malebogo Bakwena, Head of Department: University of Botswana:?"Would like to leave a legacy of empowered future leaders across the gender divide but with a peculiar soft spot for capable, adventurous and courageous women leaders who: Are capable and daring to take up leadership positions without any fear of being reminded of their gender or that they are behaving in an unwomanly manner. Would like to see a world where it's just leaders, without the "woman” prefix and (ii) have choices and don't have to settle or choose between career and family i.e. they can have them both and have life partners who are supportive and don't see them as competitors or be labelled differently by society."?

8. From the Diaspora (Based In London),?Dr Anino Emuwa, CEO and Founder: Avandis Consulting – Nigeria: "I desire to see more African women leaders in the international sphere like Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, WTO Executive director; Amina Mohammed, United Nations Deputy Secretary- General, and Dr Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka, Former Under-Secretary-General & Executive Director, UN Women, Former Deputy President of South Africa. I know there are many more women like these who showcase the excellence of women from the continent. Powerful communities of women leaders such as our African Women CEOs Network are a strong and clear indication that we do have African women who are qualified for leadership at the highest level and act as role models for younger women."?

9. From Cameroon,?Patricia Pedhom Nono – Transformation Director: PWC – Francophone Sub-Saharan Africa. "My mission here is to drive awareness around leadership at service and build a community of?1 million young servant leaders by 2025, who will be equipped to grow their way into decision-making positions and use their servant leadership skills to advance the African continent. Africa by Africans - promoting intra-Africa collaboration to create synergies and progressively reducing Africa dependencies to Western countries on key areas such as policy making, economic development investment funding and security protection. Made in Africa - promoting industrial know-how and production in priority sectors to increase Africa's footprint in global commerce exchange and reduce non-Africa?importation for commodity products. Africans for Africa - developing a governance mechanism to support transparency, community-focus strategy. Creating a stimulating environment and policies to emulate African leadership & organizations that think Africa interest first prior personal interests.

Originally published in the SAWIL Journal Vol 1 2022

To get yourself a copy of the SAWIL Journal and learn from these women and more about what the continent needs to move forward, visit www. sawil.africa or amazon. The opportunities are there, the talent is ripe. it is up to us to make it work.?

We are done talking! Time for action...#BreakTheBias?