The global non-profit lobby, 50/50 Women on Boards has opened a chapter in Nairobi in a bid to help drive gender diversity and inclusivity in corporate boards on the continent.
The Nairobi chapter is the first in Africa and will draw membership from across the continent, seeking to bridge the gender gap in top leadership positions in organisations.
Founded in 2010, the Los Angeles-based entity seeks to advance gender balance and diversity on corporate boards across the globe, targeting to have women hold at least 50 percent of corporate board seats.
In the United States, it has focused mostly on improving women’s inclusion on the boards of companies listed in major exchanges such as the New York Stock Exchange and Nasdaq. With the opening of the Nairobi office, the organisation seeks to advance women into top leadership roles in all types of companies and organisations, both listed and unlisted.
“In the African context we recognise that while we have listed companies and we do need women on those boards, we do have a lot of other organisations, non-profits, religious-based oranisations where there isn’t a lot of female representation at board level,” said Philana Mugyenyi, founder of the 50/50 Women on Boards Africa.
“So, the difference for us in the Nairobi and Africa chapter, is that beyond the publicly listed companies, we are also looking at other organisations where women can have better representation.”
The Africa chapter will focus on preparing women for board positions by equipping them with soft skills, and technical skills, and providing them with the network to build and advance connections to better position them for appointments to these positions.
In the US, the percentage of women on boards crossed the 30 percent mark for the first time in the second quarter of this year, according to the 50/50 Women on Boards’ 2024 Gender Diversity Index Report.
Latest statistics show that Kenya and most other African countries are performing better than the global average in terms of inclusion of women on corporate boards, but still less than the desired 50 percent representation mark.
According to a survey done by the Kenya Institute of Management, the Kenya Private Sector Alliance, and the Nairobi Securities Exchange in 2021, the percentage of women on corporate boards in Kenya tripled from 12 percent in 2012 to 36 percent in 2024.
On the continent, Kenya currently tops in the percentage of women representation on boards, according to a recent study by the African Development Bank.
According to Ms Mugyenyi, it is important to continue advancing the inclusion of women on boards on the continent because it comes with better outcomes in all circumstances.
“If you have women at the table, you tend to have better outcomes, and you have better outcomes not just for the people around the table, but the entire community,” she said.