Women in the country have been challenged to always trust themselves so as to accelerate progress towards female equality in leaderships roles.
This is according to Chikondi Ng’ombe who was speaking as a guest of honour at Illovo Sugar Malawi’s Illovo Women in Leadership (I WIL) Site Launch which was held on Tuesday 21 November, 2023 at Ryalls Hotel in Blantyre.
While sharing her experiences, Ng’ombe who is Bayer Malawi Country Director, said women who trust themselves excel in every role they are attached to thereby facilitating progress towards female equality in leadership roles in the country.
“I was just trying to share some of the experiences that I’ve had and what journey I’ve been through from the time that I started my career up to now. So just sharing a bit of wisdom in terms of some of things that have helped me along the way so that they would also get a perspective to help them with their careers.
“They have to trust themselves; everybody has something to contribute whether a male or female and I think if you’re a woman, you’re obviously bringing in a different perspective, which means diversity. And I think it’s a known fact backed by research that diverse companies do outperform those that are not so diverse. It’s in the interests of business to encourage women to also excel and to also participate in the business,” said Ng’ombe.
Despite noting some improvements on how the country is faring on equal opportunities for men and women when it comes to various top positions, the guest of honour was quick to mention that there is still a long way to go when it comes to issues of equality, both globally and within the country.
She then encouraged organizations and companies in Malawi and the globe at large to emulate Illovo Sugar Malawi’s gesture by deliberating initiatives that will accelerate progress towards female equality in leadership roles.
“I think a launch like this, a program like what Illovo Sugar Malawi is doing, taking a deliberate effort to allow women to participate, to include women’s participation in management to include women’s participation in whatever roles within the organization, I think that is one of the first steps that any organization can take,” she added.
In her speech, Khumbo Mtambo Banda who is Illovo Sugar Malawi Human Resources Director, said ‘I WIL’ seeks to drive women in leadership positions within their businesses with an aim of achieving at least 30% representation of women leaders by 2026.
She said the Site Launch was important and successful because women were given an opportunity to ask various questions, which she said were answered and has leveraged them and have given them an understanding that there is work that needs to be done by the woman for them to show up well in an organization.
