The recent elections in Liberia established Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf as Africa’s first female head of state of modern times.  This historic event, following on from the appointment of women as Deputy Prime Minister of South Africa and Minister of Finance for Nigeria as well as the choice of Professor Wangari Maathai for the Nobel Peace Prize in 2004, highlights the enormous potential of women in contributing to Africa’s political and economic development.

While the term ‘gender’ still triggers negativity in some quarters, it is important that women in Africa remember what Archbishop Desmond Tutu once quoted his father as saying; ‘Don’t raise your voice; improve your argument.” 

The argument is clear.  African employers that tolerate gender bias also restrict opportunities to bring the talent and experience of a significant proportion of their workforce to bear on their business and to create a positive reputation as a fair employer.  Investing in gender equity and gender balance will create organisations with a diverse workforce which are better positioned to hire the best talent, understand and reflect the diversity of their customer base, improve staff morale and bring new ideas and innovation to maintain their competitive edge.

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