Lobby group trains 26 women for boardroom jobs

Twenty-six women accountants have graduated from a programme preparing them for board positions in a push for gender-balanced boardrooms.

Women on Boards Network, formed by a group of ladies who have served in boardrooms, has taken the role of preparing women for top company positions through mentorship and recommending them to businesses in an effort to improve women directorship from the current below 15 per cent among listed institutions.

“These ladies that we celebrate here tonight are board-ready. They not only have mastered the concepts of governance and board etiquette, but by virtue of their training and being accountants, they have mastery in matters of finance and risk management,” said Catherine Musakali, Women on Boards Network chairperson.

Women under-representation in boardrooms has been attributed to a lack of mentorship for qualified women, a lack of transparency about the availability of board positions, and competition with the entrenched boys club.

In the public sector, a report by a presidential task force on parastatal reforms noted that on average, women make up 27 per cent of the board members in the State-run agencies, with a number of them having just one or two women on their boards.

A diverse boardroom not only gives firms a good public image of being inclusive but also brings balanced arguments to the table, improving the organisations.

A report by Credit Suisse Research Institute stated that the market capitalisation of companies worth more than $10 billion with women in their boards outperformed comparable all-male boards by 26 per cent worldwide over a period of six years covered by the report.

READ: Boardroom still a strange place for Kenya women

A study by Sodexo, an outsourcing firm specialising in providing a broad range of services for firms in 80 countries, showed companies where women make up a third of board members made on average 42 per cent more profit, and shareholders received 53 per cent higher returns than those headed by male peers.

Research also rates women higher than men in competencies such as nurturing others, taking initiative, self-development, integrity, honesty and driving for results.

The Capital Markets Authority guidelines to the Nairobi Securities Exchange-listed firms are not specific on inclusivity but requires boards to have diverse skills in order to ensure that no single individual or group dominates the board’s decision.

In his recent visit to Kenya US President Barack Obama called for more inclusion of women in decision-making, likening their exclusion as playing with half a team.

Following the exit of Nelius Kariuki as chairperson at Kenya Re there are now three of 61 listed companies with women chairpersons.

Anne Mutahi chairs the board of Standard Chartered Bank while Susan Mboya-Kidero chairs Liberty Insurance and Khadija Mire Uchumi Supermarkets. 

A research by African Development Bank on women directorship showed that Kenya was ahead of the other 12 African countries analysed in incorporation of women but still lags behind global averages.