Pandor queries why women overlooked for certain top jobs

WHILE there are now many women in Parliament, academia and holding top positions in the corporate world, there was still a long way to go before gender equality was realised.

Minister of Science and Technology, Naledi Pandor, shared these sentiments with women gathered at the Global Women in Management (GWIM) programme reception this week.

The GWIM programme is a project of ExxonMobil’s Women’s Economic Opportunity Initiative.

Twenty-six women from nine African countries took part in the month-long series of workshops and training to strengthen their management, leadership and organisational skills. The programme began in July and ends today.

Pandor said while much progress has been made, “we have neither a woman-led bank nor a funding organisation dedicated to investing in female entrepreneurs”.

“Tourism is a significant economic sector. Yet there is no woman-owned and led hotel group.”

She also noted that while women make up more than half of the workforce, there was still a gender pay gap, and this was why programmes like GWIM were important.

Wankembeta Kinyau, one of the participants from Tanzania, said she was grateful for the opportunity and would take what she learnt to her community.

“We formed a bond that bridges a continent, our goal now is to make Africa a better place.”

Kinyau, who teaches people in her community to be subsistent farmers, said it was important for women to learn skills because they still faced exclusion.

“Women still face legal, social and cultural boundaries that hold them back.

“With the right support women entrepreneurs can be an unstoppable force. Workshops like GWIM will help us to do better.”

Rainy Khoza of Soweto, an alumni of the programme, said it had been the greatest chance she had had in her life.

“My advice to the participants is to keep an open ear and an open mind.”

Khoza runs an NGO in her community that assists abused women and men.

“It is important to assist young girls and women and also young men and to empower them. It is also important to show them how to be independent.”

ExxonMobil: Exploration Africa vicepresident, Pam Darwin, said empowering women would ensure that communities were enriched: “We realised that empowering women is key. If you give a woman a helping hand they give back to the community and that is why we are investing in this.”