More women than men go to universities. They are as much, if not more, qualified to have a say in the process of decision making. The actual male dominated mind set prevents them going up the ladder. In his 2019/20 Budget speech, the Honourable Prime Minister Pravind Jugnauth announced that the Companies Act 2001 shall be amended and henceforth, at least one woman will sit on the Board of Directors (BoD) of all public companies. I could not believe I heard “at least ONE woman director”. Shall I, as a woman, feel privileged or rather feel offended by such announcement? Is the BoD such a patriarchal world? Must we, as women, be satisfied with only “miettes” being thrown at us?

This half measure makes us women feel like beggars. In this 21st century, we speak about gender equality. The government has a duty to empower women. At the rate of at least one woman on the BoD per company, it will take generations to reach parity. Appointing one woman is progress, but it is not enough. The Prime Minister should instead have taken the bull by the horns. It was a total missed opportunity. He should have meant business and proposed a series of measures to include women in business decision making. 

For example he could have fixed a timeline for all public companies to reach at least 30% women on their BoD. He should have amended the Companies Act to include the number of women on board in a progressive way. He could even have mentioned that public funds can invest exclusively in companies that are more gender diversify. We do not need lip service or a cosmetic change. His proposal can-not be seen as rolling the ball.

Importance of more women on board

Economically, it is important to have more women on the BoD. Many researches have also found that a more diverse board brings a better outcome for shareholders and all players. In fact, forward thinking companies have understood the stakes, and they have acted smart by including more women on their boards. They have understood this will increase their profitability. Women are now big customers; they do the shopping. Integrating women on board will convey new perspectives especially for the board to understand better consumers’ behaviour and ways of solving problems.

The Norwegian Example

In the corporate world, many countries are now legislating to include more women at all levels. In 2003, Norway was the first country to include a quota for women on BoD, with a representation of at least 40% of both genders. The companies were given four years to reach the objective. In addition, there were several accompanying measures that were set up to implement the positive discrimination towards women.

A database was set up for women who are interested to serve as board members to register themselves. Companies could search for talents here. The Norwegian Employers’ Association introduced a “Female Future Training Programme” and companies were encouraged to send their employees. Women were trained in Management development, Presentation skills, Role and Task of the BoD and Networking, in order for them to be more visible. Visibility has helped women to go up the ladder. What has made the Norwegian legislation so effective are the sanctions imposed on non-compliant companies. The latter can be forced to be dissolved if they still do not comply, after warnings and fines are issued to them.

Pravind Jugnauth did not provide any sanctions for public companies who shall not abide with the “one woman prescription”. This half measure law is a paper tiger. How can one take his announcement as serious?  If the law is silent on non-compliance, it shall not be effective. 

Following the Norwegian experience, there are ten other European countries, including Spain, Netherlands, France, Italy, Finland who have cracked the glass ceiling and have legislated proactively on promoting more women on BoD. The European Commission is expected to take drastic measures to push a quota of at least 40% of women on corporate boards. In Africa, the countries with the  highest percentage of women as board members are Kenya (19.8%), followed by Ghana (17,7%) and South Africa (17.4%).

Women run their homes

Data is totally lacking in Mauritius. The board rooms are an all-male dominated. No official data on the presence of women on the BoD are compiled by the Stock Exchange of Mauritius for public listed companies. A glance at the Top 100 Companies Annual Financial Statements suggest that there are very few women that serve on the BoD, and much fewer women are CEOs’ or board chairpersons. In fact, it seems that there has not been much study or no study at all on gender equality on BoD in Mauritius.

Business leaders should be trained and made aware of the superior financial performance in having more “women on board”. We should speak their language and mention how profits can go up and argue that we women are better in economics. Women run their homes, they can as well participate in running the company.

The push must come from the willingness of our politicians. It is only by introducing quota, that we shall drive up a more inclusive and diversified business model. There shall be no success, if there’s no proper quota to take on board more than 50% of the population. Then may be, our daughters may live in a Mauritius which is really 50/50.