The Sunday Mail
Vision 2030
Allen Choruma
Vision 2030 cannot be realised unless the country promotes the full participation of women in all spheres of life as enshrined in Section 17(1) (a) of the Constitution.
According to the Zimbabwe National Statistics Agency (Zimstat), women make up 52 percent of the country’s 13,5 million people.
They also make up 51 percent of the rural population and 53 percent of the urbanites.
However, when it comes to gender diversity in leadership, whichever direction one looks — corporate, public sector or politics — men occupy most positions of power relative to women.
It, therefore, makes it imperative to change cultural perceptions and societal stereotypes that view gender equality as a women’s issue.
Gender equality is in fact a fundamental human rights issue and affects both men and women in equal measure.
Although Government has shown commitment to achieve gender equality by ratifying a number of gender-related international and regional protocols, which include the United Nations Convention on Elimination of all forms of Discrimination Against Women (CEDAW), the Beijing Platform for Action (BPfA), the African Charter on the Rights of Women, and the Southern African Development Community Protocol on Gender and Development (SADCPGD), 39 years after independence, women remain under-represented in positions of leadership.
A recent Zimstat report titled “Understanding Gender Equality in Zimbabwe: Women and Men Report 2016” indicates that although the country made significant strides in addressing gender imbalances, a lot still has to be done to ensure full gender equality.
While the Constitution prescribes equal gender representation in all Government institutions and agencies, the recent report indicated that out of the 100 State-owned enterprises (SOEs) surveyed, there were only 23 female chief executive officers.
Also, out of the 100 SOE boards, there were only 29 female directors.
Parliament
Parliament ironically falls short of the 50-50 gender representation prescribed by the Constitution.
Figures from both the Eighth Parliament (2013-2018) and Ninth Parliament (2018-2023) and Senate shows a slight drop in female legislators as follows:
— Eighth Parliament: Men: 185 (68,5 percent), Women: 85 (31,5 percent).
— Ninth Parliament: Men: 186 (69 percent), Women: 84 (31 percent).
— Senate (2013-2018): Men: 42 (52,5 percent), Women: 38 (47,50 percent).
— Senate: (2018-2023): Men: 42 ((52,5 percent), Women: 38 (47,5 percent).
Even Cabinet appointments fall way below the 50 percent threshold. Out of a total of 20 cabinet ministers, only six (30 percent) are women. However, at the provincial minister level, there seems to be equal representation for both men and women.
Corporate Landscape
What is, however, startling is that gender imbalances in the corporate sector are more marked than in the public sector.
A 2015 study titled “Measuring Gender Differences on Board of Directors of Companies Listed on the Zimbabwe Stock Exchange”, which was conducted by Zimbabwe Open University’s Tavonga Njaya (Department of Accounting and Banking and Finance) and Zvinaiye Chimbadzwa (Department of Management and Business Studies), is quite revealing.
Of the 64 Zimbabwe Stock Exchange-listed companies that were surveyed then, there were only 40 (10 percent) female directors from a pool of 406.
Another study by TechZim in 2018 showed of the 403 ZSE directors, only 72 or 18 percent were women.
Most importantly, as at April 1, only one ZSE-listed company had a female CEO — Ms Clara Mlambo of BAT Zimbabwe.
Formerly, they were two other CEOs — Mrs Grace Muradzikwa, who used to lead NicozDiamond, and Ms Mercy Muchando-Murevesi, who headed GetBucs.
Sadc Region
Apparently, the Sadc region seems to be plagued by the same problem.
A report by the Business Women’s Association of South Africa (BWASA) in 2017 indicated that women only made up 19,1 percent of the Johannesburg Stock Exchange (JSE)-listed company directors.
Further, only 4,7 percent were CEOs.
Sadc statistics also show that women occupy an average of 20 percent of all publicly listed company boards.
Female directors at publicly listed companies are relatively more in Zambia at 24 percent, followed by Botswana and Malawi at 21 percent, South Africa 19,1 percent and Zimbabwe 18 percent.
Regional trends actually show that there is an increase in the number of women occupying director positions in listed companies in Zimbabwe.
Europe
Countries such as France, Norway, Italy and Belgium have introduced legislation that makes it mandatory for all public listed companies and SOEs to have at least 40 percent women on their boards.
India amended its Companies Act in 2003 to provide for appointment of at least one woman on companies’ boards. The UK targets 33 percent for all FTSE companies’ directors to be women by 2020.
The European Union was mulling introducing a law mandating a 40 percent female quota on corporate boards.
Going forward
Government should continue with its current progressive policies on gender, particularly through correcting historical and cultural gender inequalities.
In so doing, Government should ensure, inter alia, inclusive and democratic governance, equal participation of women in politics, high rates of female enrolment in higher education, enforce equal access and opportunity to paid employment, increased participation of women in business, and supporting educational and advocacy programmes on gender equality.
The Gender Commission should be empowered and given more resources to carry out its constitutional mandate and ensure that women representation in positions of leadership is increased across the board in both public and private sectors.
The Gender Commission should push for harmonisation of all laws, including the Companies Act and the ZSE Listing Rules, with provisions of the Constitution, which call for gender parity in all spheres of society, including leadership.
It should, however, be noted that laws and protocols alone will not address gender imbalances.
Zimbabwe, and Africa at large, has a plethora of laws, policies and protocols on gender.
Where we fall short is on implementing these laws and protocols to the letter and spirit.
From a business perspective, some of the specific interventions that should be implemented to increase women representation on boards and top management include affirmative action, shareholder activism to push for gender-balanced boards, harmonisation and alignment of laws, stock exchange listing rules, and aligning corporate governance codes with the Constitution.
While it is progressive to have more women on corporate boards, the call should not end there.
There is need to address gender diversity simultaneously with other equally important issues such as ending the pay gap between men and women, having more women chair positions at both board and board committee levels, including having more women assume CEO and senior management positions in corporates.
In conclusion, multiple initiatives are required to address gender imbalances in leadership.
Above all, strong political will is needed to drive and quicken the process of attaining gender parity in Zimbabwean society in line with the provisions and aspirations of the Constitution.
Allen Choruma can be contacted on email: [email protected]
