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TBR Africa Raises USD 2 Mn From U.K’s CDC Group To Improve Women’s Presence In Boardrooms

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 |  January 22, 2019

Delight-filled and thankful tweets from both parties have confirmed that TheBoardroom Africa has raised £1.6 Mn (USD 2,063,464) from U.K’s development finance institution CDC Group.

The partnership is expected to foster diversity in African organizations, while the funds will be used to double the number of women on boards by making it simple to find exceptional female talent.

Tweet from TBR founder Tamsin Jones

With only 14 percent of female representation in African boardrooms,  pain is put to the promising highlights regarding how women are positively impacting business outcomes. Having noticed the negative effects of gender inequality across the world, institutions and corporations across Africa are gearing up on the march to a more female-involved business landscape.

In accordance with the United Nations’ insights, unequal treatment of women costs sub-Saharan Africa approximately USD 105 Bn, which accounts for 6 percent of its yearly GDP. This places a premium on increasing the state of women in the workplace.

According to a McKinsey research, companies in the top quartile for gender diversity are 15 percent more likely to have financial returns above their industry peers who are missing women in their boardrooms. In Africa, only 14 percent of board directors and 5 percent of CEOs are women.

Thanks to the strides made by TBR Africa, the continent is reaping the developmental dividends of women in the workplace by accelerating female representation in the boardroom and pushing gender inequality off the edge, ultimately improving institutional performance.

By means of training, pioneering research and the curation of a database to include senior executive women from more than 40 African countries, TBR is fostering inclusive decision-making and giving the female role a chance to impact Africa’s fast-growing market.

The funding from CDC, who is TBR Africa’s single largest private equity funder, will help the women-focused group connect female leaders with CEOs and board directors in search of diverse talent. The group, which was founded in 2016, is enabled by partnerships with development finance institutions, private equity, venture capital funds and others.

The emergence of TheBoardroom Africa was made possible by its founders, Marcia Ashong and Tamsin Jones, who are both passionate advocate of gender equality and business leaders in their rights. As these women, who already have a solid track record of cross-continental impact, “man” the forefront of TBR, the group acts as a springboard for Africa leap up to become the world’s top region for female leaders.

Jen Braswell, Director, Value Creation Strategies, CDC Group, said:

“As CDC encourages the world’s investors to focus on Africa, we need excellent men and women to serve on the boards of local and international firms across the continent. Our partnership with TBR Africa has already begun helping us reach our commitment to promoting gender equality in corporate leadership.

The funding we’re announcing today will help TBR Africa continue to provide us with outstanding candidates for our portfolio that we would not have otherwise found. We are very pleased with the placements that TBR Africa has helped us make so far – and we’re looking forward to more.”

 

Featured Image: Africa Business Communities

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