Men dominate boardrooms-report

Kampala. Uganda is barely above the African average of having women on boards of listed companies. An African Development Bank (AfDB) report titled: “Where are the women inclusive boardrooms in Africa’s top listed companies?” highlights that across Africa, the average representation is 12.7 per cent whereas Uganda hovers just above that at 12.9 per cent.
According to the report, Stanbic Bank Uganda, has the highest number of women for any boardroom of a company listed on the Uganda Securities Exchange (USE).
On its nine member board, there are three women; Ms Barbara Mulwana, 50, the executive director Nice House of Plastics, Ms Josephine Okot, 48, the founder of Victoria Seeds and Ruth Emunu, 66. This gives Stanbic Bank Uganda one of the highest percentages (33.3per cent) for female board members in mid-capped company.

AfDB Mid-capped companies are valued at $500m and $1b.
Dfcu has two women on its board. Dfcu also has a Women Advisory Council, which was setup to advise female entrepreneurs on managing their businesses. Umeme shareholders approved the first female – Ms Florence Nsubuga - on their board in February 2015. Other companies with representation are the Vision Group, which has two females and Uganda Clays.

Weak guidelines
Uganda has no specific law requiring a particular number in the boardroom. The Capital Markets Authority (CMA) in 2003 alluded to it in the Capital Markets Corporate Governance Guidelines.
“The process of appointment of directors should be sensitive to gender representation,” reads Section 30 of the guidelines.

According to the AfDB report, these guidelines are not adequate enough to have more women in boardrooms.
“However, the guidelines do not have the force of law and only apply to the eight listed companies. There is no such language in their Companies Act by which all incorporated companies must abide, so privately-held companies have no governance guidelines by which to comply,” it reads.

Clueless men
In Kenya and South Africa, there are quotas for state-owned companies to have female representatives. In others, it is deliberate for companies to at least have a certain threshold of women on their boards.
Notably, Mr Sam Owori, the CEO of the Uganda Institute of Corporate Governance, is quoted in the report as saying female participation in boardrooms confuses male directors.
“...Male directors are so used to seeing the business world with players who are like them, so noting that their boards must have female participation may seem puzzling to them,” he says.

The benefits
Profitability. The report suggests that a “better gender mix among senior management” can be linked to improved profitability of companies.

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