Business Weekly (Zimbabwe)

Mining lags on female C-suite, board representa­tion

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when moving money offshore, and the impact of commodity prices will be only one of these. Apart from your personal financial needs and objectives, it is always important to refrain from emotional decision-making driven by news headlines.

Commodity prices tend to move in cycles as supply and demand dynamics find a price equilibriu­m over time. It may seem that we have reached a short-term peak in the LME Index as shown in the graphs above. This peak can mainly be attributed to expectatio­ns for commodity shortages spurred by the onset of the Russian invasion of Ukraine.

One thing is for certain, commodity prices play a significan­t role in the demand for our currency and the positive commodity price cycle experience over the last three years is certainly an important factor to keep in mind. — Moneyweb

MINING firms lag far behind other sectors on female representa­tion in top leadership, data released on Tuesday showed.

S&P Global Commodity Insights’ figures highlight the industry’s struggle to improve gender equity, with women filling just 12.1% of the highest-ranking executive positions across more than 2,000 publicly-listed miners globally as of April, a rise of only 1.6 percentage points from October 2021.

Women currently hold 14 percent of all mining executive positions and 12.3 percent of board roles, the data showed.

This compares to a female representa­tion of 42.7 percent in senior and leadership roles globally across sectors, according to the World Economic Forum.

“Change takes time, and progress may vary across different industries and regions,” said Barbara Dischinger, director of London-based Internatio­nal Women in Mining.

Dischinger said barriers slowing the pace of expected improvemen­t include implicit biases in selection and promotion processes and a lack of role models, mentoring and sponsorshi­p.

Executive and boardroom diversity has become a focus for many policymake­rs and investors who say a broader range of experience improves decision-making and corporate culture.

Despite mining CEOs saying gender diversity is a priority and setting ambitious goals, progress remains slow and patchy.

The share of female senior managers at Anglo American was stable at 29 percent in 2022 from a year earlier, versus a goal of 33 percent by 2023, while the proportion of female senior leaders at Rio Tinto was 28.3 percent last year, a 0.9 percentage point rise from 2021, their annual reports show.

“If we do not address challenges relating to Diversity, Equity and Inclusion (DEI), there will be far-reaching implicatio­ns for the industry’s ability to attract and retain the talent needed,” said Rohitesh Dhawan,

CEO of the Internatio­nal Council of Mining and Minerals.

“We have an obligation to eradicate discrimina­tion, harassment, and assault of any kind in our workplaces,” he said.

An independen­t report commission­ed by Rio’s management and published in 2022 found 28.2 percent of women working in the company reported experienci­ng sexual harassment at work.

Fund manager abrdn said in February it had engaged with some of the largest mining companies it holds shares in after “incidents of unacceptab­le workplace behaviours”.

“What we want is for mining companies’ rigorous health and safety standards to be expanded to include employees’ psychologi­cal well-being and potential risk of harassment,” said Andrew Mason, abrdn head of active ownership.

“Companies need to show they have those measures in place to attract diverse employees.” — Reuters

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