Rising woman: Why women in banking must be empowered

Dar es Salaam. The Chief Executive Officer of Standard Charted Bank Tanzania Ltd, who also chairs the CEO Roundtable, Sanjay Rughani, shares his views on women empowerment stemming from his long-established career in Tanzania’s banking sector.

Interview excerpts as written by Salome Gregory:

In your own words, how do you define woman empowerment?

There are varied ways of defining women empowerment. I am very excited to be talking about women empowerment because I credit my success today to my mother’s industrious nature; she engaged in a lot of activities, including business. So, from the beginning of my life journey, I got to witness firsthand how empowerment helps women.

I would say that my mother always had the ability to build personal capacity, which was pivotal in decision-making.

So, I’d say empowerment is a significant part of how I see woman development.

Furthermore, my wife, Mili Rughani, who works as the Head of Business Development for Aga Khan Hospital, is an epitome of an empowered woman. Same goes for my 17-year-old daughter, who’s empowered with the knowledge, capacity and ability to make choices and transform the world.

You mentioned three empowered women around you. What do you think is the right time/age for a woman to be groomed to become a good leader in future?

Leadership can be oriented at any age. I think your context is around a woman’s professional life. My daughter is a leader in many school activities. She is being nurtured well at her school and the school recognises gender balance issues. I can say there is no defined age.

In the work context, I think it is important for women to be groomed to be leaders from day one of joining the company.

It is important for women to understand their organisation, its purpose, understand their roles and they also have to put passion into whatever they do. This as well depends on the nature of the organization. I became a director at 32 years old. I don’t see any reason for a woman not to be a director at this age as well. Age should never be the reason for women not to be groomed.

Did you always know where you wanted to be when growing up?

Not always. I was empowered to constantly grow and exposed to new knowledge. When you are exposed to new knowledge and insights you make new choices. And the choice you make today can be different tomorrow. The other thing we need to know is we are in a very dynamic world. The only constant around us is change. In a changing world, even the leader I was five years ago is not the same as the one I am today.

Here at Standard Chartered Bank do you have a specific policy that aims at empowering women to grow and reach top managerial levels?

Standard Chartered Bank prioritises gender balance. It is a strategy that we have in place not only in Tanzania, but also globally.

We believe that gender balance is a basic human right. As such, we have a lot of policies, practices and interventions we have created. And today, as I speak to you, I can proudly say that more than one-third of my leadership team here at Standard Chartered Bank Tanzania is made up of women. The country management and board are made up of women. Globally, the group has committed that by 2020 we would have achieved 30 percent target at global leadership level and come 2024 that ratio will move to 34 percent. For Tanzania, we are slightly better than the group.

What activities or decisions have helped you implement gender balance strategies?

First, I would say bold commitment. We have also signed the United Nations Women Empowerment Principles which aim at establishing high-level corporate leadership for gender equality. We are also adherents to the Women and Finance Charter based in the UK. One global leader is accountable for this agenda, thereby making it a top priority.

I have worked at Standard Chartered Bank for 22 years. I can tell you for about 15 years this has been part of our study and today we have a good balance of our staff, which is currently balanced at 50-50. In recent years, I think there are more women who’re starting to receive promotions. And even from recruitment to basic policies around health, workplace, maternity.

With maternity, I believe we have the best policy in the country. We give expectant mothers five months of paid leave instead of three months as is the practice. We also have flexible hours that allow women to take care of their families. And we also have forums that talk about women, aiming to give them voices so as to build their confidence.

What would you highlight as your biggest success in your role as CEO at Standard Charted Bank?

Life is all about enabling people and grooming leaders. In the past five years, I can proudly say that I have managed to groom competent leaders who are now performing quite exceptionally. Standard Chartered has many leaders who are championing the bank to greater heights.

Just last year, the bank inked a landmark transaction to finance the government with $1.46 billion for standard gauge railway construction. This project promises numerous benefits for Tanzanians.

What I’d also list as a remarkable achievement is a milestone we achieved in 2020 when we launched our digital bank which provides our customers with access to a number of our services via mobile.