Women club seeks more say in Kenya’s boardrooms

By Macharia Kamau

A new lobby is set to shake up the conventional boardroom in the country that is male dominated. The 30% Club Kenya is looking at increasing the number of women on the boards of private and public entities to at least one third over the next five years.

The lobby argues the strategic shift in corporate boards representations would bring about better governance, financial results and enhance shareholders’ value.

The 30% Club Kenya, launched on Friday evening, is spearheaded by the East African Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM), but aims at recruiting other professionals in the push for more women on corporate boards.

“The objective of the club is to provide mentorship, leadership, network and knowledge for women to take advantage of rising opportunities and the law that favours equality. There are similar initiatives by CIM in other markets like South Africa, Hong Kong and UK,” said James Ngomeli, chairman CIM East Africa.

“Having more women on boards make a company diverse, post better financial results and there is more employee satisfaction besides enhancing shareholder value.”

The club reckons that the marketing profession is among those that suffer, whereby only a few women are able to rise to management and board levels. “About 75 per cent of the profession is made of women but they make up seven per cent of the marketers that are able to rise to the board level.”

Kenya has a legal requirement that boards and management of all government agencies should have 30 per cent women representation. Despite this legislation having been in place since 2007, public entities and many listed firms have not met this threshold. A recent report by a presidential taskforce 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. Only 15 per cent of the listed companies, according to CIM, have crossed the threshold of having 30 per cent women on their boards.

Pauline Kiraithe,  Standard Group Human Resource Director noted that cultural norms as well as lack of mentorship for women professionals has hampered women ascending to senior management and board positions of many firms.

“A key challenge for many women has been finding people that they can talk to when they start rising the corporate ladder. I believe that there is need for mentorship to draw more women to the board level,” Kiraithe said when she spoke during the CIM annual excellence dinner gala.

“We also need to address cultural issues that have held women back, such that even in instances where they are qualified, they are held back from climbing to the next level.”

In Kenyan  and generally African, women that are able to rise to senior management are seen as too aggressive, a trait the club says is not encouraging to the career development for women executives.

Ian Marshal, Head of International Relations, CIM UK said the same scenario plays out globally. He says women tend to have a more difficult time rising to boards but noted that the situation is slowly changing.

“In many developed countries, the number of women getting into institutions of higher learning is equal to that of men. But they start falling off the wagon or stagnate with time when they start getting families,” he said.

“Marriage and having kids hamper their ascending to boards, but there are also other social and environmental factors as well as cultural and sexist perceptions at play. Women are rarely considered for national duties that would give them ample experience.”

According to the International Finance Corporation (IFC), inclusion of women in boards brings about better financial performance and shareholder value for a firm.