TheBoardroom Africa releases latest research on boardroom gender diversity in Africa
TheBoardroom Africa (TBR Africa), a for-profit social enterprise advancing women’s representation in business, has announced the release of its annual study on boardroom gender diversity in Africa. The 2019 edition focuses on top of the continent’s top 10 markets, Ghana, South Africa, Côte d’Ivoire, Rwanda, Nigeria, Uganda, Kenya, Egypt, Tanzania and Zambia, and aims to measure the collective progress of African countries in accelerating progress in women’s leadership.
Founded in 2016, TBR Africa is improving women’s representation in African boardrooms through its unique pool of 800+ peer-endorsed female leaders from over 45 countries across the region. The company connects these female leaders with CEOs and board directors in search of diverse talent, and its work is enabled by partnerships with development finance institutions, private equity, venture capital funds among other institutions and corporations.
The 2019 research indicates that among Africa’s top 10 fastest-growing economies, Rwanda has the highest percentage of women on boards. Despite a small population of 11.3 million and eight listed boards, Rwanda has the highest percentage of female chairpersons on publicly listed boards at 33% and a general female representation of 27% amongst all board members at public companies.
This positive trend is followed closely by Kenya and South Africa, where 24 percent and 22 percent, respectively, of board directors are women. Zambia has 21 percent female directors and both Ghana and Uganda have a female representation of 20 percent on publicly listed boards. Similarly, Tanzania has a female representation of 19 percent, followed by Nigeria with 18 percent of its board directors being women. TBR Africa research also indicates that Francophone countries are falling behind their Anglophone peers as boards in Cote d’Ivoire are only 9 percent female. Finally, Egypt was found to have the least number of women on publicly listed boards, representing only 7% of all positions. These figures can be compared to the global average of 15% of female board members according to a 2017 analysis by Deloitte.
Study findings also indicate that each country has experienced a drop in the number of women holding the critical role of chairperson, the most powerful role on any board. The chair of the board acts as a key link between the board and upper management. In Kenya, for example, even though women make up 24 percent of all non-executive directors indicating a 4 percent increase in female representation since 2018, only 3 percent of this number attained the role of chairperson, a drop from 8 percent in 2018.
TheBoardroom Africa will continue to review this data annually to measure Africa’s progress board diversity and assess the impact of its strides on gender diversity. By 2028, TBR Africa aims to double the representation of women in African business.
Follow @TBRAfrica on Twitter during the month of November for more updates on our research on #WomenonBoards.
