Executive for corporate affairs at Hollard Namibia and Chairperson of the Namibia Women in Finance and Insurance (NamWifi) Council Grace Mohamed says the financial sector is lagging behind in female representation.
She said while the public sector has an admirable job in including women in leadership roles, women are still kept away from similar roles in the private financial space over the perception that these roles are too technical for them.
“We are endeavouring to demystify the illusion, because the chances of getting a lady to be appointed as a board director of a financial institute are low. There are no ladies that can sit on the board of an insurance company, because the few that are there are already conflicted,” she said.
She said it is the duty of female leaders that find themselves in these spaces to broaden the base and create opportunities for others.
“We are always getting calls from institutions looking for females to be board members, but they say the person doesn’t have experience or they are not from the sector.”
She said the Namibia Women in Finance and Insurance Summit (NWFIS) aims to drive transformative change within the sector for more female leaders to be included in the finance, insurance and investment space so that it can mirror the public sector.
According to the latest data from the Namibia Statistics Agency, 23,186 women are employed as managers in Namibia compared to 23,988 men.
Meanwhile, 40,136 women are regarded as professionals compared to 28,405 men while 27,658 women are employed as technicians and associate professionals compared to 22,735 men.
NAMIFA’s Deputy CEO Erna Motinga says the Namibia Women in Finance and Insurance Summit, which is targeting 322 attendees and over 100 virtual delegates, will unveil a mentorship programme, particularly for young women in the financial and insurance space who will be matched with a reputable coach that the summit will finance.
“This is part of the money we are raising, to provide such interventions for young women,” she said.
She further said the summit aims to explore areas of advocating equity to ensure that everyone is represented and to provide women with both soft skills and technical skills so that when opportunities present themselves, they can step into those roles on merit.
“The idea is also making sure that the boy child is not left behind. Inclusion means all because if we leave the boy child behind, there could be real societal issues emanating,” she said.
