Only 8pc of TZ CEOs are female

What you need to know:

Does lack of diversity and inclusion in Tanzania’s board rooms mean regulations are not clear or aggressive enough?

In 2008 Tanzania ratified article 12 of the SADC protocol article 12 of the Sadc protocol on gender and development (2008) which requires members to ensure 2015, at least 50 percent of decision making positions in the public and private sectors are held by women by using affirmative action as provided for in articles 5. Unfortunately, Tanzania has failed to meet this target. CEO Roundtable of Tanzania chairman Ali Mufuruki says that more collective effort from the private and public sectors is needed to be able to bridge the gap especially as traditions, religion and customs still contribute to the unequal gender roles. “Gender parity is a big topic but the reality does not show this,” he said. He notes that the country needs more aggressive reforms to ensure women are accorded the same status as men. But even with some regulation in place, what other factors prevent Tanzanian women from taking up more leadership roles? Tanzania Private Sector Foundation (TPSF) executive director, Godfrey Simbeye says while the country accords equal opportunities for lower and tertiary education for both genders, the reverse is seen in the corporate world leadership. “I don’t understand the reason for this. Few women hold CEO positions despite having had equal resources when in school. Could it be that they are not aggressive enough to grab the opportunities? Company owners only look for someone who can bring them profit and gender does not take precedence they want aggressive individuals,” he says.

The World Economic Forum (WEF) Global Gap Report 2017 Global Gap Report 2017 reveals that with the current trend, on the overall global gender gap can be closed in exactly 100 years across the 106 countries covered since the inception of the Report, compared to 83 years last year. The report’s Gender Gap Index ranks countries according to calculated gender gap between women and men in four key areas: health, education, economy and politics to gauge the state of gender equality in a country. The most challenging gender gaps remain in the economic and health spheres. Given the continued widening of the economic gender gap, it will now not be closed for another 217 years. However, unequal access to education could be reduced to parity within the next 13 years. The political dimension currently holds the widest gender gap and is also the one exhibiting the most progress, despite a slowdown in progress this year. It could be closed within 99 years.

Only 8pc of TZ CEOs are female

What you need to know:

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