Johnnie Walker, in partnership with Million Men March, Tswharanang Legal Advocacy Centre and Lifeline, held an event on Saturday at the iconic Nelson Mandela Bridge in support of an abuse-free society by pledging to do what they can to eradicate the causes and effects of women and children abuse for not only 16 days, but for all 365 days of the year. The South African public is also invited to pledge their support to eradicate the causes and effects of abuse for all 365 days of the year by pledging their support on <a href="http://www.strideforgood.co.za" target="_blank" rel="noopener">www.strideforgood.co.za</a>.
Alcohol has long been associated in many parts of the world with enjoyment and celebration. At Johnnie Walker, our brands are made with pride, but are also made to be enjoyed – responsibly. Unfortunately, this is not always the case. Violence against women is often related to the irresponsible use of alcohol.
<div id="attachment_34756" style="width: 511px" class="wp-caption aligncenter"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-34756" class=" wp-image-34756" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Diageo-Johnnie-Walker-pledge-e1512991006125-300x191.jpg" alt="" width="501" height="319" />Representatives from Diageo, Million Men March, Tswharanang Legal Advocacy Centre and Lifeline, on Nelson Mandela Bridge. (Photo supplied)</div>
Several studies from low- and middle-income countries show that men who misuse alcohol are 1.6 to 4.8 times more likely to perpetrate intimate partner violence than men who do not misuse alcohol. Fortunately, research also shows that violence against women is predictable and preventable. By identifying the social, cultural, legal and economic factors that influence such violence, it is possible to predict its occurrence and to understand how to prevent it.
The Striding Men event is just one of the many initiatives Johnnie Walker will champion to promote responsible drinking and combat alcohol misuse. Johnnie Walker is proud to invite South Africa to participate and contribute towards 365 days of Activism for No Violence against Women and Children by continuing to promote responsible drinking in South Africa.

South African public invited to pledge and #strideforgood

“Calm down. You’re so sensitive. Where’s your sense of humor? You’re crazy!”
If you’re a woman, in all probability, you’ve heard it before.
Psychologists refer to this as ‘gaslighting’ – silencing techniques used to shut you down after you have addressed someone else’s behavior. In that moment, the speaker is making a judgment about how you should feel.
Gaslighting is when one person systemically confuses the other person into thinking their reactions are crazy, to the point where they actually question their sanity. The term is not very mainstream as it originated from the 1940’s film Gas Light, where a husband manipulates his wife into thinking she is crazy.
While gaslighting is not a universal truth for all women, there are plenty of women who unknowingly encounter it at home, in personal relationships and especially at work.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/12/05/80-hours-week-work/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: Over 80 Hours A Week At Work?</a>
Sbusi Dlamini, HR Business Partner for ShowMax in Johannesburg, says gaslighting commonly manifests in the workplace when there is a power imbalance, such as a manager and his/her assistant. It starts with simple acts such as withholding key information like dates or details of a project, lying about instructions given or not providing the necessary support when in a position to do so.
For instance, if a woman raises valid concerns at work, she is considered to be whining or moody. If she is insulted and her feelings are hurt, it’s her fault for not having a sense of humor. In both these scenarios, the woman is to blame and both parties are conditioned into believing that women’s opinions don’t hold as much weight as men’s, and what women have to say and what they feel aren’t as legitimate.
“It is malicious because it plays on your worst fears and desire to be understood,” says Dlamini.
Dlamini points out that gaslighting is not exclusive to submissive, introverted women, but confident, assertive women with power are also vulnerable to it.
“Women are traditionally labeled as too sensitive or over-emotional, so they are more susceptible to gaslighting in various roles and industries.”
An example of this is the infamous ‘Google Memo’ written by a now former Google engineer, James Damore. He wrote that women are not suited for certain jobs because of their genetic make up, and the gender gaps at work are not due to discrimination, but inherent biological differences between men and women.
Such gender stereotypes are harmful to women because spending your days working with a colleague who believes you were born incapable of being good at your job can eventually lead you ask yourself: “What am I doing here?”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2017/08/14/we-men-for-women/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">READ MORE: We, Men For Women</a>
Dlamini also believes that in addition to gender, race plays a role in the reality of women in corporate Africa.
“People of color, women in particular, are historically taught to be submissive and this undeniably follows them into the workplace. As a result of this, they find themselves submitting to those in power in order to progress, thus allowing abusive behavior,” she says.
Dlamini says the first step in dealing with gaslighters is to detach yourself so you can distinguish between the world of the gaslighter and the real world.
“It’s important to remember that gaslighting only works when you believe what the other person says,” she adds.
In her experience, she advises victims to keep a written record in case they should doubt their memory. Bringing in a third party can also help keep track of what transpires, as well as reporting the case to human resources.
Women deserve the equal, unbiased opportunity to prosper in the workplace without abusive mind games that perpetuate discrimination.
“Once you are aware of it, the hard part is over and you can work to mentally overcome it,” she says.
<h2>7 signs you are a victim of gaslighting:</h2>
<ul>
<li>You are constantly second-guessing yourself and doubting your capabilities</li>
<li>You often feel confused and “crazy” at work</li>
<li>You often ask yourself if you’re being too sensitive</li>
<li>You are always apologetic or feel you’ve done something wrong</li>
<li>You feel your thoughts and ideas are shut down</li>
<li>You are indecisive because you don’t trust your own judgment</li>
<li>You doubt your own sanity</li>
</ul>
&#8211; Written by Cadine Pillay

Gaslighting – Surely, This Has Happened To You Too

In March, the MasterCard Index of Women Entrepreneurs (MIWE) report was released and it contained good news. Uganda has the highest percentage (34.8%) of women business owners in the world.
The East African country led in various key components of the survey; the highest percentage (90.5%) of female entrepreneurs in the world borrowing and saving money to start a business, highest (93.9%) labor force participation rate and a 100% women entrepreneurial activity rate, meaning women are as likely as men to start a business. Notably, cultural perceptions of female entrepreneurs in Uganda were surprisingly higher (68.8%) than the average (41.3%). Second in the index was another African country – Botswana at 34.6%. Sadly, out of the six African countries included in the 54-country survey, four were in the bottom half – South Africa, Tunisia, Egypt and Algeria.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/investment-guide/2017/10/30/west-africa-less-attractive-investors/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Why Is West Africa Less Attractive To Investors?</a>
The survey reveals certain important points. First, women are good for business. Second, markets with supportive entrepreneurial conditions, such as strong SME support, high quality of governance and ease of doing business, tend to drive the progress of women business ownership. Lastly, women advancement in business is not tied to wealth and the level of development in the economy. In other words, the entrepreneurial drive of African women is exceptional. That said, going forward, it’s critical for the rest of the continent to emulate their trailblazing neighbors.
To achieve this, a key question needs to be answered: why should the African woman entrepreneur matter? Findings from the survey show that women entrepreneurs are the backbone of economic growth and are powerful engines of development and financial inclusion. Success for the African woman entrepreneur is success for the economy. Additionally, according to the MIWE survey, like most of their counterparts in developing countries, African female entrepreneurs are driven by resilience, determination and the desire to provide for their families. Investing in women benefits an entire community. Women are also opportunity-seekers and risk-takers – attributes that are vital in inspiring them to become entrepreneurs.
Harnessing these qualities will require the active participation of all stakeholders within the entrepreneurial ecosystem; financial institutions, government and private equity. In fact, women-led private equity funds can help catalyse this change by fronting this movement. With many of them now taking leading roles in developing private equity in Africa, their rise should in turn be positive for female entrepreneurs. Private Equity Women Investor Network (PEWIN), a global organization promoting senior women in private equity, estimates that there are more than 150 women in senior roles investing or allocating capital across Africa. This is crucial considering the MIWE survey mentioned lack of venture capital as a constraint on the African woman entrepreneur.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/homepage/2017/10/09/power-woes-stall-ugandas-rise/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">Power Woes Stall Uganda&#8217;s Rise</a>
Governments have a central role to play. Enacting business-friendly regulations, removing institutional inefficiencies and ensuring ease of doing business will go a long way in helping the woman entrepreneur realize her potential.
Family and society are also instrumental, especially when it comes to easing gender-related challenges that often hinder women from prospering in business, such as taking care of children. Further inroads can be made in other ways, including training and mentoring programs, honoring successful female business owners and encouraging women networking events.
A brighter future awaits the African woman entrepreneur. Although much of the African women’s full potential and value as entrepreneurs and business owners remains unleashed, gradually implementing a supportive environment will help pave way for more women in the market place.
Hopefully in the future, Africa can realize this and join Uganda as a leading light of the world. &#8211; Written by Rufus Mwanyasi

The Rise Of The African Woman

“I am still awaiting trial after five years behind bars for a crime I did not commit,” says Toke Okeowo*, a 25-year-old inmate at the female section of the Kirikiri Prison in Apapa, Lagos State, Nigeria. Her case typifies the injustice suffered by hundreds of poor women in Nigeria.
Kirikiri Prison is one of two female correctional facilities in the country. At the entrance of the prison, there is a notice stating the prison was carrying 2,000 people over its 1,700 capacity, an issue that has led to the spread of diseases and countless deaths. What is more alarming, a majority of the detainees, similar to Okeowo, have not been convicted by any court of law.
“My neighbor came over to my place and told me to hold her mobile phone while she went next door to pick up her child. Thirty minutes later, a group of men came knocking at my door looking for the neighbor who had apparently fled. They found the phone which had been stolen from the men along with a laptop and accused me of being an accomplice,” says Okeowo.
She was immediately detained and sent to the medium security wing of the prison where she has been waiting for a verdict for the past five years. Nigeria has the highest number of detainees awaiting trial in Africa.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/focus/2017/09/21/grime-comes-crime/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">The Grime That Comes With Crime</a>
Okwendi Solomon, an expert in Criminology and Penology, estimates that over 70% of prison inmates are on the awaiting-trial list in the country. The legality of these detainees is still an ongoing debate. Section 19 of the Prison Act of Nigeria defines a woman prisoner as “any person lawfully committed to custody”.
However, Dr Uju Agomoh, an expert in justice and prison reform and founder of Prisoners Rehabilitation and Welfare Action (PRAWA), believes the ambiguity in the law needs to be addressed.
“For a woman to be recognized as a prisoner in Nigeria, her confinement to prison must be lawful. This raises serious concerns as to the legal status of awaiting-trial women who are often charged by magistrates who have no jurisdiction to do so and are then remanded in prison custody by such magistrates pending their proper trial before a competent court,” says Agomoh.
<div id="attachment_33644" style="width: 259px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-33644" class=" wp-image-33644" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/09/UJU-AGOMOH-212x300.jpg" alt="" width="249" height="352" />Dr Uju Agomoh (Photo supplied by PRAWA)</div>
Furthermore, she believes that because women do not account for a majority within the criminal justice system of many African countries, most prisons have a proclivity to cater to the larger male prison population without sufficiently taking into account a gender-sensitive approach and therefore unable to adequately take care of the special needs of female prisoners.
Princess Ndema* experienced this insensitivity the hard way.
“I was arrested for trafficking drugs. At the time, I was six months pregnant so I ended up giving birth to my child in this prison. It was very bad conditions because the prison did not have adequate treatment or care. I fell ill immediately after that due to an infection I contracted during childbirth. If you do not have someone bringing you feminine hygiene products from the outside, you basically have to try and somehow survive,” says Ndema.
Most of the toiletries used by inmates at the Kirikiri Prison are provided by non-governmental and religious organizations &#8211; a problem for the female prisoners who might be nursing mothers or pregnant.
“We do not get any welfare from the government. If it was not for the local church who bring sanitary pads, soaps and sometimes food to us, the situation will be a lot worse than it is,” says Ndema.
She and her son have been at Kirikiri for seven years now. She claims although she was 16 at the time, the arresting officer said she was 21 so she could be tried as an adult. That trial never came.
“The number of female prisoners are few in comparison to the male population, however, due to the recent alarming growth as well as the unique nature of female prisoners, I think it is imperative for the criminal justice system in Nigeria to focus on the conditions and issues that can have a negative impact on their health,” says Dr Olayinka Lawal, Executive Director of PRAWA.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/life/2015/08/01/how-criminals-free-their-mind-behind-bars/" target="_blank" rel="noopener">How Criminals Free Their Mind Behind Bars</a>
The organization was established about 22 years ago as a non-profit due to the inhumane conditions in the prison system. For Lawal, improving conditions in the prison also means speeding up the legal process for awaiting-trial persons.
“The way this system should work is, somebody is arrested for a criminal offence, goes through trial, and is presumed innocent constitutionally until found guilty of the offence. But this does not happen because the criminal justice system is slow with the average detainee waiting between five to 17 years. Three years ago, we helped to release one of the longest detainees in the state who had spent over 17 years awaiting trial,” says Lawal.
The only light through the prison’s concrete labyrinth for those still awaiting trial is the presence of organizations like PRAWA. The organization puts prison reform at the top of their agenda through capacity research and institutional building as well as advocacy.
“The administration of Criminal Justice Act ACJA 2015 has outlined the framework to tackle the issue and we need to find prudent and efficient ways of implementing this. As I have always stated, there are other forms of sentencing like communal service instead of prison term so education is also key,” says Lawal.
The mandate to reform the prisons in Nigeria rests with the Nigerian Prison Service (NPS) but due to the peculiar challenges in prisons in the country, the process of rehabilitating prisoners and sending them back into society has been significantly hindered.
“Those awaiting trial under the eyes of the law are usually presumed to be innocent and there is no provision for them in the prison system because they are just passing by. As a result, the reformative program in the prison is intended for the convict,” says Lawal.
According to Dr Kemi DaSilva-Ibru, founder of Women At Risk International Foundation (WARIF), “When juxtaposed with other members of the society, prisoners suffer numerous health issues in prison including substance abuse, mental health and communicable diseases.”
Equally worrisome for mothers like Ndema, the responsibility of raising her son rests squarely on her shoulders until she is separated from him during incarceration. For her and many females facing an uncertain future, the challenges continue. The only way out is through government and other stakeholders coming together to provide and improve the prison system as well as healthcare and most importantly, ensuring the criminal justice system achieves its intended purpose by legally punishing or acquitting individuals in an expeditious manner.
*names changed to protect identity

The Uncertain Future Of Nigeria’s Female Prisoners

With the violence against women assuming epidemic proportions in South Africa in the recent past, and the hashtag #MenAreTrash trending voluminously, it’s heartening learning of small but significant social justice initiatives such as Action Breaks Silence working hard to bring awareness about the culture of rape and violence – and how it can be prevented.
We meet its founder Debi Stevens at a workshop at the Ikaneng Primary School in Soweto, an urban township in Johannesburg, where she bands together young boys and girls and teaches them just that.
“It started a while ago, but the root of the idea was sparked by rape,” says Stevens, herself a victim.
She was 11 years old when she was raped by her friend’s brother. She couldn’t understand what was happening to her, so she decided against telling her parents as she “thought they would divorce”.
Thankfully, she moved from Port Elizabeth to Durban in KwaZulu-Natal, far away from the perpetrator who lived in their neighbourhood. She saw him often and he had been threatening to kill her.
“In high school, I thought of martial arts as self-defence. When a karate club came to my school, I ran to my parents to ask if I can start karate classes. Both my parents said no, because I was a girl.”
<div id="attachment_33219" style="width: 280px" class="wp-caption alignleft"><img loading="lazy" decoding="async" aria-describedby="caption-attachment-33219" class=" wp-image-33219" src="https://www.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/08/Debi-Stevens-074-199x300.jpg" alt="" width="270" height="407" />Debi Stevens was herself a victim (Photo by Motlabana Monnakgotla)</div>
Stevens speaks openly about her rape, but now sees herself as a survivor as she did go on to study martial arts. Today, she imparts this learning to young girls, and teaches young boys to respect them.
After the ordeal Stevens went through as a child, karate was her therapy. She was the only female in class, and hit the men so hard she was once asked to leave the club.
“One of the guys showed me his chest, it had my fist mark, I couldn’t believe it, I was so stunned.”
Stevens found healing in sport but soon, there was going to be another tragic turn of events. She was doing well as an athlete when she met an old friend in 1997. This friend, who had been a well-known model in South Africa in the late 1980s, was on drugs and offered them to Stevens.
Oblivious to the impact it would have on her life, she took it, not feeling any pain or emotion the first time. Six months later, she was a chronic addict to crack cocaine. Stevens was only 26 years old.
“People don’t actually realize the journey, sometimes it goes back to a really painful experience that those people are trying to escape. That’s what happened with me,” she says.
Stevens, full of energy, had found another form of escape from the horrific memories of her childhood rape.
Drugs masked her pain and emotion; she was soon selling her belongings to drug dealers.
In 1998, Stevens’ friend died in a car accident, only meters away from one of their drug dealers in Cape Town.
It was then in a fit of emotion that Stevens finally opened up to her mother for the first time about the rape – and the drugs. That was the beginning of her healing process.
“Fast forward the clock, I trained with self-defence instructors all over the world. It took me all this time to learn it so I could be able to pass it on. In my heart, it has always been how to help people that would never be able to pay for my services, that’s why the workshops,” she says.
Stevens has traveled to countries like India and organized the same program for girls and boys there. After each workshop, she sees positive changes in the children.
Thankfully, there are more such examples in Johannesburg of similar initiatives.
International sports brand Reebok partnered with Fight Club Gym for an initiative named Pretty Lethal offering free self-defence lessons for women.
“It was open to any woman who wanted to join. Women who are generally active, women of all races between the ages of 23 and 35 had registered online,” says Brian Jackson, Brand Activation Specialist for Reebok.
“The feedback has been excellent, we’ve managed to get exposure through various agencies and publications, it has been very positive because no one else has done this – an initiative to empower women.”
Phase two of Pretty Lethal will be launching in Cape Town during Women’s Month consisting of three classes of 50 women each. The fight must go on.

Fight Like A Girl

There was a time when the phrases ‘throw like a girl’ or ‘run like a girl’ were considered insults. These days, they’re not; especially not if you are a member of the South African women’s cricket team.
They are the only African side to have qualified for the Women’s World Cup, which is being played in England now. Their presence is a result of steady progression which has peaked over the last three years thanks to increased corporate backing and a more structured cricket program and could show the rest of the continent how rich the rewards of investing in women’s sport can be.
Four years ago, the South African women&#8217;s game was managed in much the same way as an amateur competition, where the main reward for involvement was enjoyment. Things started to change in early 2013. Financial institution Momentum had just bought the naming rights to the men&#8217;s one-day international squad and the domestic one-day cup and expressed an interest in extending their sponsorship to the women, a property that was not up for sale at the time.
“When we became involved in cricket sponsorship, it was with the intention of getting our brand out here but we also wanted to leave a legacy which showcased our values; things like diversity and gender equality,” says Danie van den Burgh, head of Momentum to FORBES WOMAN AFRICA.
“We saw an opportunity in women’s cricket and asked Cricket SA but they told us it was not something they were considering getting a sponsor for because they hadn’t had anyone interested. We wanted to get involved so we made them an offer and from there it just snowballed.”
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/sport/2017/06/20/forbes-africa-cover-revealed-owner-new-t20-global-league-team/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Forbes Africa cover revealed as owner of new T20 Global League team</a>
Momentum’s money made an immediate impact. Cricket SA could employ a full-time women’s coach, Hilton Moreeng, and awarded six players professional contracts. A year later that number was increased to 14, which meant that a full squad was being paid for their efforts. The effects on the field were immense.
In October 2014, the South African women’s team made their first trip to Sri Lanka – and crucial because that country would also host the World Cup qualifiers three years later – and won. Then, they traveled to India and the United Arab Emirates, notoriously difficult places for teams to tour, and won series against both India and Pakistan. Although the South African women could not repeat those feats at home in the full series against the powerhouses of England and West Indies, they made gains by beating both sides in a single match for the first time. Victories over Bangladesh, Ireland and Zimbabwe followed to confirm South Africa’s presence as one of the better sides in the women&#8217;s game and prepare them for what Moreeng hopes will be a successful World Cup.
<blockquote>“We are very excited and proud, especially when we look at where we came from and the amount of work we put in. From Momentum coming on board, to players becoming professional, the number of series we played, and the opportunities to play cricket against top teams in the world and test our skills,” he says.</blockquote>
“This team have been playing together for the last three years so the growth and the maturity of the squad is very good. Performances around the world have been very good. They are a team that travels well and can win away from home.”
England is a challenging destination for touring teams because of conditions. The ball swings early on but South Africa’s women have the resources to deal with that. The top-ranked bowler in the world, Marizanne Kapp, is in their squad, along with four other players who participated in a T20 tournament in the United Kingdom last year.
<a href="http://www.forbesafrica.com/woman/2016/12/01/cricket-rwandas-new-unifying-force/" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer">Cricket: Rwanda&#8217;s New Unifying Force</a>
Captain Dane van Niekerk, batsman Lizelle Lee and fast bowler Shabnim Ismail, all played for English teams in the Kia Super League – a monetized event similar to the Indian Premier League – last year. Accompanying them to the World Cup are youngsters like Laura Wolvaardt, an 18-year-old who already has a century to her name, and Raisibe Ntozakhe, an offspinner who made her debut in the series directly producing the World Cup and began playing cricket as a six-year-old with boys.
The balance of experience and youth and their common drive is what Van Niekerk hopes will set them apart. “We’ve got a purpose as a team and that’s to win a World Cup. It’s been a long and grueling process to get to this but we all bought into it,” she says.
Moreover, the team have plenty of people they want to impress, not least because they will receive an unprecedented level of coverage. All South Africa’s matches at the Women’s World Cup will be televised on pay channel SuperSport, a massive upsurge considering that the first time they ever appeared on a live broadcast was in 2014.
<blockquote>“It’s awesome to be able to share this with the country. It’s really special for our families because we can’t always get them to other countries so for them to be able to watch one of the biggest tournaments of our careers is really touching,” says Van Niekerk.</blockquote>
South Africa’s increased efforts in promoting the women’s game are a reflection of a changing global trend. At the macro-level, the International Cricket Council (ICC) has realized women’s sport deserves more attention and is providing it. Prize money for the Women&#8217;s World Cup has increased ten-fold from $200,000 in 2013 to $2 million this year.
“This is the first step towards greater parity and recognition. The change will not happen overnight but the women’s game is crucial to the global growth of cricket,” says ICC CEO Dave Richardson.
For Cricket SA’s general manager Corrie van Zyl, a massive monetary incentive like that could help convince more women to take up the game and to realize there’s great pride to be taken in throwing and running like a girl.
“It shows them that cricket can become a career,” he says. Touche! &#8211; Written by Firdose Moonda

On A Good Wicket Now

It was controversial feminist writer, Maggie Young, who in describing her generation, best captures the DNA of the millennials.
“We lost the genetic lottery. We graduated into terror attacks and wars. We are often more educated, experienced, informed, and digitally fluent than prior generations, yet are constantly haunted by the trauma of coming of age during the detonation of the societal structure we were born into. We will have less money to buy the material possessions that entrap us. We will have more compassion and empathy because our struggles have taught us that even the most privileged can fall from grace. Our hardships will obligate us to develop spiritual and intellectual substance. Maybe having roommates and buying our clothes at thrift stores isn’t so horrible as long as we are making a point to pursue genuine happiness.”
Corporates and governments are tripping over each other trying to understand Young’s generation. The manual on millennials has proven to be somewhat elusive with tons of studies on this generational group that despite reporting on some common themes, have not nailed what makes millennials tick.
What we do know is that the term ‘millennial’ is about as old as the average millennial, coined in 1991 by Neil Howe and William Straus, in their co-authored publication: Generations: The History of America’s Future 2584 to 2069. They described millennials as people born between 1980 and 2000. This generation is also commonly referred to as Generation Y.
Millennials matter because they make up the world’s largest generational group since the soon-to-retire Baby Boomers. The first cohort of millennials is in their early to mid-30s, at the beginning of their careers, and will become an invaluable engine of the global economy in decades to come.
Millennials matter even more in Africa.
The African Development Bank has reported Africa has more than 200 million people aged between 15 and 24, about 65% of the continent is made up of millennials, making it the youngest continent in the world. Demographic forecasts show that this figure will double by 2045.
In just four years, three out of every four people in Africa will be on average 20 years old in Africa.
While millennials may be dismissed as a generation obsessed with selfies, they also seem to be intent on being part of finding solutions to the world’s biggest problems.
The 2015 Deloitte Millennial Survey highlights millennials are tuned into the purpose of a business – what it should do – as much as they are tuned to the impact of the business – what the business is actually doing.
Millennials are increasingly disconnected with traditional approaches to the workplace. They are easily turned off by stiff corporate structures and working within silos. They want dynamic work environments, they are not keen on putting in the slog of years working the corporate ladder, they believe in rapid succession, and they value mobility over the bum-on-seats approach. These insights are pulled from extensive research done through a survey administered to over 4,000 graduates across 75 countries by KPMG to understand what millennials want from the workplace. Although the survey was done in 2011, the insights will continue to shape corporate talent strategies for years still.
What millennials want out of the work of experience is like nothing before that. Top of the list of headaches is that old reward and recognition systems aren’t retaining millennials in their positons. Millennials subscribe to “loyalty-lite”, happily hopping between employees.
The unparalleled access to the internet and mobile phones is part of the millennial DNA. This generation has no concept of the world before technology. They take as a given that you can have a movie theater, your next taxi ride, and your diet all in your back pocket.
The Wall Street Journal in Millennials: Love Them Or Let Them Go reported millennials don’t just view social networks as a communication tool but as a global language that embeds them in various communities. Interestingly, despite the uptake of social media connectedness, millennials still value family and friends even though they will overwhelmingly engage with them on social media platforms.
Millennials value education and are more likely to spend more time investing in their education than the previous generations. The manual on millennials is still missing but if the statistics shared by the World Economic Forum that millennials are increasingly becoming the biggest influencers in the world, that more than 50% of the world’s population is under 27 years old and rising to 70% in Africa, it needs to be written. Yesterday.
&nbsp;
– The writer, a millennial herself, is a senior anchor on CNBC Africa, and presents the show Young Money on the channel.

Milenials_Jay-Caboz-8

The  New Biz Kids On The  Block

In my travels, I have come to understand that as women of African descent, whether you are in England, Brazil, St. Maarten, South Africa or in the United States, we face many of the same challenges. Most of us are dealing with unrealistic European standards of beauty imposed upon us from the time we are born. This, combined with the expectations of our parents and community, leaves us feeling like we always have something to prove.
This used to be me. Born in Uganda, my upbringing as an African in America shaped my sense of identity and self-worth. My ‘Africanness’ in a world where light skin and long, straight hair were preferred, was almost taboo.
In elementary school, I detested my first name, Julian, because in America, it was considered a boy’s name. To add what I thought was insult to injury, my last name, Kiganda, was extremely difficult for Americans to pronounce. So it was butchered often. Because my mother kept mine and my four sisters’ hair short, I was asked more than once by students at school if I was a boy or a girl. Beauty and success to me were not synonymous with being African.
Two major turning points in my life happened to flip this erroneous belief on its head. The first was the opportunity to travel the United States (US) as a member of an all-women’s East African performing arts group called Kayaga of Africa. Showcasing our culture on stages where many in the audience still had a very backward view of Africa was both empowering and life-changing. As American audiences showed appreciation for the beauty and diversity of my culture, so did I.
But I still struggled to reconcile who I was to who I thought I was supposed to be. Then in 2006, my firm won a bid to design an African American slavery museum in Alexandria, Virginia, US. It was a project which would completely change my perspective of African Americans. In public school, very little is taught about slavery or African American history in general. So my real introduction to black history came as a result of designing this museum.
I began to understand how Africans were forced to give up their languages, their identities, and their names to take on that of their white slave owners. The atrocities Africans in America suffered were indescribable. That’s when I began to understand my role in bridging the divide between Africa and her diaspora.
Since designing that museum, my work as an artist, author, community activist, teacher and entrepreneur has revolved around bridging the two cultures which have played integral roles in shaping who I am today: a black woman who is proud of my African roots, and comfortable defining beauty and success for myself. I use every opportunity I can to educate my brothers and sisters on both sides of the Atlantic on the fact that we are more alike than we are different: history and current circumstances speak to that.
As an old African proverb states: “If you want to go fast, go alone. If you want to go far, gotogether.”
We need to build bridges that will bring greater collaboration, cultural exchange and opportunity. I believe women play a key role in building those bridges. Thankfully, I’m not the only one.
On a recent trip to Johannesburg in South Africa, while being driven around the city by a Malawian Uber driver, I asked him what he thought of Joyce Banda, his country&#8217;s immediate past president and second female head of state in Africa. His answer pleasantly surprised me:
“I think she did a good job. We would have a better world if we had more women as presidents. There is something that God put in women which we men don’t have. Women are multi-taskers and considerate. If you think about it, we live in the wombs of our mothers for nine months. If they can take care of an entire family, they can take care of an entire country.”
You may not aspire to be the next president of your country, but as a woman, you are uniquely equipped to succeed. Just remember, part of your success depends on your willingness to accept and embrace who you are: in all your Africanness. Understand your true value. Don’t be afraid to challenge the status quo. Instead, blaze your own trail and define success for yourself.
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– The writer is based in Washington DC and is founder and CEO of Bold &amp; Fearless, a lifestyle brand and online magazine for professional women of Africa and the diaspora.

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Bridging  The Divide  As An African In America

Half of the 10 richest South African women either inherited their wealth from their fathers or built businesses together with their husbands. A few are standalone entrepreneurs, while some are renowned corporate executives.
<h3>Wendy Ackerman, $300 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Retail</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30774 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Shot-01-CF234920-225x300.jpg" alt="" width="225" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Shot-01-CF234920-225x300.jpg 225w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Shot-01-CF234920-300x400.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Shot-01-CF234920-600x800.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Shot-01-CF234920.jpg 750w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 225px) 100vw, 225px" />Wendy Ackerman’s husband, Raymond, founded Pick ‘n’ Pay, one of South Africa’s most dominant retail empires. She and her husband control the Ackerman Family Trust, the vehicle through which they own more than 40% of the retail giant. She has also served as a Non-Executive Director of the company since 2010. Pick ‘n’ Pay has outlets across Southern Africa and Australia.
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<h3>Wendy Appelbaum, $200 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Insurance</h3>
Wendy Appelbaum is the daughter of revered South African multi-millionaire insurance mogul Donald Gordon who co-founded Liberty Investors, an insurance and real estate company. She worked at Liberty before divesting her significant shareholding in the company. She used the proceeds to pursue other interests, most notably, DeMorgenzon, a wine estate in Stellenbosch. The philanthropist has donated millions of dollars to causes in education and health in South Africa.
<h3>Irene Charnley, $150 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Telecoms</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30776 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Irene-Charnley-15179-CEO-Smile-Telecoms-Holdings-Ltd-276x300.jpg" alt="" width="276" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Irene-Charnley-15179-CEO-Smile-Telecoms-Holdings-Ltd-276x300.jpg 276w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Irene-Charnley-15179-CEO-Smile-Telecoms-Holdings-Ltd-300x326.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Irene-Charnley-15179-CEO-Smile-Telecoms-Holdings-Ltd-600x652.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Irene-Charnley-15179-CEO-Smile-Telecoms-Holdings-Ltd-768x835.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Irene-Charnley-15179-CEO-Smile-Telecoms-Holdings-Ltd-942x1024.jpg 942w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Irene-Charnley-15179-CEO-Smile-Telecoms-Holdings-Ltd.jpg 941w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 276px) 100vw, 276px" />
Charnley burst into the limelight as a trade unionist when she was a negotiator for the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa. She subsequently left union politics and joined MTN as an Executive Director where she was instrumental in negotiating for a GSM license in Nigeria, MTN’s most profitable market. She earned hefty stock options which translated into more than R2 billion ($71 million) as far back as in 2006. She divested her shareholding in MTN and founded Smile Telecoms, an internet services provider active in West and East Africa. Smile Telecoms recently closed a $365 million funding round from international investors to expand its broadband network.
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<h3>Elisabeth Bradley, $100 million</h3>
<h3>Source: Investments</h3>
Elisabeth Bradley is the chairperson of Wesco Investments, an investment holding firm and Toyota South Africa, a company that has the lucrative distributorship of Toyota in South Africa. Her father, businessman Albert Wessels, had the foresight in 1961 to acquire the distribution rights of the automaker in South Africa. It has paid off handsomely for Bradley. In 2008, she sold off 25% of Toyota South Africa to Toyota Motor Corp of Japan for more than $300 million.
<h3>Judy Dlamini, $100 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Aspen Pharmacare</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30777" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Judy-Dlamini-300x177.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="177" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Judy-Dlamini-300x177.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Judy-Dlamini-600x353.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Judy-Dlamini-768x452.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Judy-Dlamini-1024x603.jpg 1024w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Judy-Dlamini.jpg 1023w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
Dlamini, a medical doctor by profession, is the leading shareholder in Imithi Investments (Pty) Limited, a black economic empowerment vehicle that owns more than 4% of Aspen Pharmacare, Africa’s largest pharmaceuticals company. She is also the chairperson of a black women-owned and managed company with operations and investments in health, facilities management, tourism, fashion retail and retail property.
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<h3>Sharon Wapnick, $80 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Investments</h3>
Sharon’s father, Alec Wapnick, founded Octodec Investments and Premium Properties, both Real Estate Investment Trust companies. In 2014, both companies merged to become Octodec. Sharon is one of the largest shareholders in the company. She also serves as a partner at TWB Attorneys, a commercial law firm in Johannesburg.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="alignnone size-medium wp-image-30772" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/SharonWapnickXXX-300x184.jpg" alt="" width="300" height="184" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SharonWapnickXXX-300x184.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SharonWapnickXXX-600x368.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/SharonWapnickXXX.jpg 680w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 300px) 100vw, 300px" />
<h3>Pam Golding, $60 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Real Estate</h3>
Pamela Golding is the founder of the Pam Golding Property Group, a real estate brokerage which she started in 1976 with one sales assistant and no capital. Five decades later, Pam Golding is one of the largest real estate agencies in Africa, closing more than $1 billion in deals in 2015 and employing a workforce of more than 3,000 professionals. Golding is the chairperson of the company while her son Andrew is CEO.
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<h3>Vanessa Gounden, $45 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Diversified</h3>
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30775 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Vanessa-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Vanessa-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Vanessa.jpg 267w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Gounden serves as the CEO of the Holgoun Group, a conglomerate she co-founded with her husband, Sivandran Gounden, in 2005. Holgoun started out in the clean energy business, but after it flopped, she and her husband set out to buy platinum prospecting rights and developed platinum mining assets through which they made their first fortune. The company now has an asset base of $250 million and interests in mining, healthcare financial services, property, media and security among other sectors. Gounden is now attempting to make her mark in high fashion. In 2011 she launched her own fashion label named Vanessa Gounden, a luxury womenswear brand that has a pop-up shop on Beauchamp Place near Harrods in London.
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<h3>Bridgette Radebe, $25 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Mining</h3>
Radebe is one of the few females to have thrived in South Africa’s male-dominated mining industry. Mmakau mining, a Johannesburg-based junior mining company she founded, has lucrative mining assets in coal, gold, uranium and platinum. Radebe started out in the 1990s managing shafts for larger mining firms on a contract basis. She is elder sister to South Africa’s first black billionaire Patrice Motsepe.
<h3>Yolanda Cuba, $10 Million</h3>
<h3>Source: Diversified</h3>
Yolanda Cuba currently serves as Executive Director for strategy and business support for South Africa Breweries Limited, but in her former life, she was the CEO of Mvelaphanda Group, an investment company with interests in mining and natural resources. Mvelaphanda was previously listed on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange, during which time Cuba was awarded stock options worth around $10 million.

South Africa’s 10 Wealthiest Women In Business

What challenges do women starting new businesses face?
Sometimes women lack confidence. Often men will say I can do it and they will go and find out how to do it. Whereas unless a woman really can do something, a woman will hesitate to put her hand up and say I can do it. The more women bind together and give each other confidence, the better it is. As women get more experienced, and there are more in the market place, things will improve.
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Do you believe in the glass ceiling?
Definitely men are still at the helm, the majority of them. There are women at the top and there are women prime ministers and in America we might have a female president next year. So I think women are breaking through. A lot of women leave the corporate world and decide to start their own businesses. If you are going to say to yourself that there is a glass ceiling and I will not get to the top, it is a limiting factor.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-30911 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/Black_Card_Books-0443-Edit-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Black_Card_Books-0443-Edit-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Black_Card_Books-0443-Edit-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Black_Card_Books-0443-Edit-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Black_Card_Books-0443-Edit-768x1152.jpg 768w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Black_Card_Books-0443-Edit-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/Black_Card_Books-0443-Edit.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Are you seeing more women in the C-Suite now?
There are a lot of women. They are still in the minority if you look at numbers across the board. There are women who are getting there. Look at Maria Ramos (Barclays). There are a lot of women in middle management and senior management. Maybe not so many at senior management but there are more women at work these days.
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Your advice to new business owners…?
Definitely go for it but do your research well. Put a little questionnaire together, find out what people think about your product idea. You may have a good idea but your consumers, if you ask them, will help you mould your ideas together.

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‘Do Your Research’

Globally, there is a growing awareness that gender equality at the top level of business translates into better business. Several high-profile research reports, including those from McKinsey &amp; Co, Catalyst and the World Economic Forum, highlight that organizations with the highest percentage of women on boards outperform others in terms of returns on equity, sales and invested capital.
As a result of this awareness, specific initiatives are being launched to attract and retain top women in the business world. One such initiative is the 30% Club. It was launched in the United Kingdom (UK) in 2010, and its goal is to drive the increase of women on FTSE-100 boards to 30% by the end of 2015. The 30% Club is a group of business leaders committed to achieving better gender balance at all levels of organizations.
The 30% Club asserts that diverse boards make businesses more efficient, effective and ultimately more profitable. So far, progress has been made: it has achieved a steady increase from 12.6% in 2010 to 22.2% currently. In South Africa, however, such progress is lacking.
Sadly, there is still a dearth of women in senior management and board positions. It is not necessarily that the leadership opportunities do not exist, but rather that women are opting for alternative career models outside of the corporate world in search of career progression.
This does not bode well for corporate South Africa. Clearly, organizations are not thinking strategically around how to attract, develop and retain talented female professionals.
Without doubt, a new approach is required. Talent management solutions, for example, should be gender-neutral. Smart organizations understand the benefits of gender equality in the boardroom, but they fail to ‘walk the talk’.
Instead of uttering the right statements in the press, businesses need to develop solutions that offer women (and men) more incentives to remain in the corporate world. While women are no more difficult to employ than men, creativity and innovation needs to be applied to attract and keep the best employees. Following the lead of organizations such as Google Inc., organizations should be creating cultures and career models that attract women and cater to their different workplace needs and requirements.
Deloitte LLP provides an interesting case study – the company has become a leader in workplace innovation with its innovative agile working program. The company allows all employees to request a formal flexible working arrangement and enjoy a block of four weeks of unpaid leave each year.
In the UK, the 30% Club is achieving its aims without mandatory quotas, in line with the belief that voluntary business-led action is the way to achieve meaningful change. In SA, our complex history of mandatory reforms poses critical questions around mandated gender equality.
While the Women Empowerment and Gender Equality (WEGE) draft Bill – which is calling for 50% female representation across all senior and top management positions – is undoubtedly powerful, we believe that if corporates are not voluntarily putting strategies in place to continually attract and retain women, sustainable and meaningful change is unlikely.
Ultimately, the ideal solution requires a cooperative approach between government and business to establish a framework that makes commercial sense. If we look to countries such as Iceland and the Nordic states, where gender equality has been achieved, this type of partnership and framework exists. According to the WEF Gender Gap Report of 2013, the Nordic countries are considered leaders in gender equality. Their labor participation rates for women are amongst the highest in the world and salary gaps between men and women (although still present) are amongst the smallest in the world.
In SA, both government and business simply cannot afford to sit back on this issue and ‘see what happens’. A more proactive and coordinated approach is urgently required. While we wait for the WEGE bill to be enacted into law, and for initiatives like the 30% Club to gain traction, women continue to exit formal employment.
Unsurprisingly, they are turning to more flexible options, like starting their own businesses or managing smaller businesses. Talented female professionals are leaving the corporate world to find and create new business models that suit their goals, preferences and desires. For corporate South Africa, the most worrying part of this equation is that these women are taking their valuable institutional knowledge and much needed skills and experience with them.
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The writer is director of Tuesday Consulting, an executive search firm in Johannesburg.

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Why Corporate SA Needs To Take Action Now

No one said it would be easy!
As women of Africa we have had epic battles to fight, from freeing ourselves from the shackles of colonized and patriarchal mindsets, to being pigeon-holed by our multi-textured identities shaped by race, gender, class and cultures. But we have started to change that: initially we did this hesitantly, often unsure about our own strength, both physical and emotional, as well as our worth – and, more often than not, cowed by the often unquestioned power-based status quo in our societies and institutions, and the barriers that kept us out.
But now we are braver, wiser and more reliant on our own instincts and leadership traits; our emotional and spiritual intelligence; our formal and informal knowledge; our experiences and our relationships, and so we have begun to carve out the future we want for ourselves in bigger, bolder and more audacious steps. In general, African women have started to own their voices and make their mark in domains that were previously male-dominated. Why?
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I like to posit that one of the primary reasons for this phenomenon is that women are no longer afraid of owning their ambition; we have finally learned that ambition is not a dirty word. Previously we would shy away from asking, negotiating, speaking up, recognizing our worth and claiming the recognition we so rightly deserve. From war-torn countries to boardrooms to our homes, we are no longer wearing the victim cap but have replaced it with our open ambition – not driven primarily for self-centered, egocentric reasons but because we are deeply passionate about creating better adjusted societies. Most of us are, after all, mothers or mothers in the making, and so instinctively nurturing – and which mother in which country does not want a better life for her child?
From women who are playing significant peace-keeping roles in their countries, to the survivalist female entrepreneurs operating as the third economy in hugely disparate nations, to women who have paved the way for more women in the boardrooms of corporate enterprises and government structures – all have claimed the right to their goals and aspirations.
Huge sacrifices have been made by women who came before us, particularly those who fearlessly stood up to oppressive regimes and allowed us to take our seats around the tables of power. You and I are without a doubt still making sacrifices and may obtain many scars for openly demonstrating such a determined sense of civil or commercial purpose. But instead of hiding our scars let’s wear them as badges of honor.
I have quite a few scars myself, but through my experiences I have learned that what does not kill or damage me is character-building and has given me  an inner strength and resilience I did not know I possessed. I was talking to a South African male leader recently and he said something very interesting; the gist of it went like this: “I was never an insider and being the outsider from a young age made me fight for it, and work harder and smarter – and made me infinitely more hungry.”
I think this can be argued as a case for women who have never been the insiders in a male-dominated society and business environment. In addition to being the outsiders we also possess traits that men simply don’t have. According to an extensive study conducted in 2013 by John Gerzema, named one of the Top 100 Thought Leaders in Trustworthy Behaviour 2014 by Trust Across America, and Michael D’Antonio, women are intuitively more expressive in their leadership style, they use flexibility as a way of getting things done, and they see winning as a group construct. These are primarily female leadership traits, the study concluded, and are what we want in our leaders today – that is, leaders who have the capacity to relate to ordinary people and their points of view.
Simply put, we are the leaders we have been waiting for. Our nation, our society and our corporate enterprises need leaders like us; and the young women and men in our societies need role models like us. Gerzema and D’Antonio articulate it beautifully in the title of their 2013 New York Times bestseller, The Athena Doctrine: how women (and the men who think like them) will rule the future.
That future is now. Women need to be proud of their ambition and, in realizing it, must be prepared to stave off whatever slings and arrows the insiders may throw at us.
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The writer is the Executive Director of the Centre for Leadership and Dialogue at the Gordon Institute of Business Science (GIBS) in Johannesburg,
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Ambition  Is Not A Dirty Word

It was meant to be a historic first for Africa and women’s professional boxing – it was a flop. On February 3 2007, Gwendolyn O’Neil of Guyana challenged Laila Ali, the daughter of legendary professional boxer Muhammad Ali, for a WBC super-middleweight world title at Emperors Palace, in Johannesburg. To the chagrin of 2,800 spectators, who paid at least $50 a head, with the late Nelson Mandela ringside, Ali pulverized O’Neil in the first round to win with a knockout. The then 30-year-old Ali earned a $522,000 purse and quit the sport.
Many boxing enthusiasts saw the fight as a breakthrough for struggling professional female boxing in South Africa, which started in 2001. But Rodney Berman, the man who put it together, had other thoughts. Berman, the leading promoter in Africa, wanted to fulfil Ali’s wish for his daughter to fight on the continent, like he did in Kinshasa in 1974 in the famous ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ with George Foreman. But this was the first and the last female bout under Berman’s Golden Gloves Promotions.
“I won’t do it again; I don’t want to think about seeing two women in the ring bleeding. For me it’s not a sport for women, it is something I think is unfeminine. In my opinion women shouldn’t be boxing. It doesn’t interest me. I can’t watch women taking punishment. They have been trying to encourage it in South Africa but I don’t know why? Laila Ali was different; she was accepted worldwide as something special. She was the only one I was interested in because of her family pedigree,” says Berman.
Top trainer Nick Durandt, of Durandt’s Boxing World, is also not keen on female boxing. Durandt, who trained one woman boxer, says women’s boxing doesn’t make business sense and there’s no big money in it. In 30 years as a trainer, Durandt guided 38 world champions and 97 South African champions.
Eight years after Ali’s bout, South Africa has not even come close to staging another high profile women’s bout.
“It’s not only a South Africa problem, but worldwide. Have you seen a female bout headline a big event?” asks Durandt.
“In general, boxing is in a bad state in South Africa, so women’s boxing is even worse. The unfortunate passing of Phindile Mwelase didn’t do them any favors. If the tragedy of that nature happens early in the existence of sport, many people will surely keep away from it. Women’s boxing is almost non-existent to be honest. Nick Durant would know better,” says Peter Leopeng, a senior boxing analyst.
It is not merely an African story. Female boxers in the United States are migrating in droves to Mexico where the sport is lucrative and growing. New York-based Alicia Ashley was one of the Americans to take her chances in Mexico. In September, Ashley lost her WBC super bantamweight title to the Mexican Jackie Nava. She is still boxing at the age of 48.
In Africa there is a dearth of fights and sponsorship. Many women have quit the sport but those who remain earn peanuts. According to Boxing South Africa, there are fewer than 40 licensed women boxers in the country, with a majority coming from the Eastern Cape, Limpopo and Gauteng. Few of these boxers have challenged for world titles – none have won. The names are little known: Sandra Almeida, the country’s first professional boxer; Noni Tenge; Julie Tshabalala; Gabisile Tshabalala and Unathi Myekeni.
It is a dangerous game of risk in the ring. Mwelase, a fairly inexperienced boxer with five professional fights, was knocked unconscious in the sixth of eight rounds in October last year in Pretoria. She died at the Steve Biko Academic Hospital after two weeks in a coma – the first African female boxer to die. The 31-year-old was fighting for $400.
Kenyan Conjestina Achieng was admitted to a psychiatric hospital, Mathare Mental Hospital, but couldn’t pay the bill. The government had to intervene. She was a former middleweight champion and the first Kenyan to fight internationally. In 2004, Achieng beat Uganda’s Fiona Tugume for the vacant WIBF middleweight world title. She would go on to win four world titles under different categories, registering 17 wins and four draws, earning the nickname Hands of Stone.
Despite these difficulties, women’s boxing is not dead, merely struggling.
Stanley Ndlovu, owner of Sir Stan’s Athletics, is a struggling trainer who has not given up on female boxers. Ndlovu became a trainer in the 1970s to keep youth off the streets of Soweto. He trains three professional female boxers in his stable. Among several male champions, Ndlovu guided his own son, Takalani, to the junior IBF featherweight title.
“While there were riots in 1976, we were busy training the youngsters in our gyms. After the hard practise, we sent them home to protect them from the brutality of police in the streets. We saved them from crossfire. The passion I had for boxing from those days I still have this day. Boxing is the same as any other institution. If you are not disciplined, you will face the consequences alone. But I don’t tolerate that with my boxers,” says Ndlovu. Sir Stan’s Athletics is hidden in the heart of a tourist trap in the Maboneng Precinct, in Johannesburg.  Every weekday, Ndlovu nurtures the talent of his students. The late and unfortunate Mwelase turned professional in 2012 under his eye. All Ndlovu’s female students hail from rural areas and are unemployed. They all hope boxing will one day change their lives for the better.
“The mentality of promoters towards lady boxers must change, we won’t despair. Look at the [South African women’s football team], Banyana Banyana, today. No one gave them a chance of making it when they started. Here, I will produce Commonwealth champions,” says Ndlovu.
Still they come, female and proud with gloves on. It is a Friday morning in the gym at the University of the Witwatersrand (Wits) in Johannesburg, three young women are punching bags like they hate them. One of them is Cebile Mlotsa, who weighs less than 50 kilograms and has a quick jab.
“I don’t really pay attention to money, but I just want to turn professional and follow my passion. Just because there are two men who decided that it’s not going to work, it doesn’t mean that women should stop boxing. I started with a coach that told me you are getting there. There was no discrimination that I am a girl, they will help you. They were all very supportive,” says Mlotsa, an amateur boxer and engineering graduate.
In 2013, Mlotsa joined the Wits boxing gym because she saw people running around campus looking fit and followed them. After a few days in the gym, she was introduced to boxing. Mlotsa has only two fights in two years.
“I liked the intensity involved in it. You have to prepare and it takes a lot out of you. There are no girls or boys in our gym, we run with the boys, we are sparring with the boys, everyone is a boxer. My mother raised concerns about violence in boxing, but I told her Mandela was a boxer too,” she chuckles.
Hedda Wolmarans is a young promising boxer and sports management student who is turning professional this year. She is unfazed by the penury of the sport she took up in 2012 just to keep fit. Wolmarans is currently the Gauteng amateur champion in the under 69 kilogram division. She fought 13 times under different trainers around Johannesburg but late last year joined reputable trainer Colin Nathan.
“I have what it takes to be a professional. Colin Nathan has warned me it is not going to be easy to get fights because Rodney Berman is not interested in female boxers. It’s going to be hard but that’s a risk I am willing to take. I am not driven by money, I just want to fight and get a South African title. Look at other male South Africa boxers, they still keep their jobs. I fell in love with the sport, it is very difficult, yet addictive. You have to constantly push yourself,” says Wolmarans.  And constantly push the boundaries of the sport for women.

UD16325

Women Should Not  Be Boxing?

The International Labour Organisation (ILO) has recently released their survey Women in Business and Management Gaining Momentum which notes that globally whilst women have increased their share of management jobs and as entrepreneurs over the last two decades, all data sources and analyses report a continuing dearth of women in top decision-making positions, as CEOs and board members. In coming up with their findings, they extend on the terminology used to describe the problems women face. We all know about ‘glass ceilings’ and many have heard of the ‘slippery ladder’ where women do not even get to the glass ceiling as they have fallen off the career ladder for whatever reason before they even get a chance to come up against the glass ceiling. The ILO now talks about ‘glass walls’ which they define as segregation by gender within management occupations.
<img loading="lazy" decoding="async" class="size-medium wp-image-29949 alignleft" src="http://www.forbesafrica.com/app/uploads/2017/05/IMG_4814-200x300.jpg" alt="" width="200" height="300" srcset="https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_4814-200x300.jpg 200w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_4814-300x450.jpg 300w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_4814-600x900.jpg 600w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_4814-683x1024.jpg 683w, https://cms.forbesafrica.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/05/IMG_4814.jpg 682w" sizes="auto, (max-width: 200px) 100vw, 200px" />
Whilst it may not be their original quote, it notes that “one of the reasons why it can be more difficult for women to be selected for top management jobs is their management experience is not sufficiently diverse. They have not been exposed to all types of company operations during their careers and thus have not gained sufficient experience in general management across several functional areas”.
So in addition to having glass above our heads, we now have glass on our sides as well. We allow ourselves to be placed in career silos. We need to stop doing this and realize that a well-rounded career is vital to get to the top. At least metaphorically, we are surrounded by glass, so we are still able to see where we are going. Whether we are able to use our other senses to navigate is open for debate. The survey revealed 34% of the companies responding indicated that retention of women was a problem. Is this surprising when women are placed into these silos, or rather allow themselves to be, as much as they are?
Interestingly, with regards to women in management positions, some African countries do quite well. Of the 124 countries surveyed globally, Ghana is placed 26th with 39% of all managers being women.  Botswana is 28th and Namibia 37th with 38.6% and 36% respectively. Interestingly, Botswana was one of the countries noted that achieved a 7% or more increase in the share of women in management between 2000 and 2012. That is very encouraging.
Like many surveys of this nature, the implementation of company policy measures on how to solve the problems features prominently. The results this time around though are quite interesting and go away from the norm. About 84% of companies indicate they have maternity leave as part of policy. Why are we even discussing this in this day and age? In contrast, parental leave, i.e., no gender connotation, is practised by 51% of the responders.
It is worth noting what the ILO suggests companies do in order to advance women: Explain and provide evidence on the business case for more women in management; network with other companies on good practices; provide good practice examples of measures and strategies to promote women in management; develop a strategy to promote more women in management; design an equal opportunity policy; network with women’s business associations; provide guidelines on gender sensitive human resource management systems; develop guides on measures and strategies to promote women in management; introduce a mentoring scheme; design a sexual harassment policy; and introduce a sponsorship scheme.
It is significant the first item is the need to explain and provide evidence on the business case. There are pockets of areas globally where the business case has been proven and accepted. In these areas they have moved onto the next step of implementation by those who have been convinced. Sadly, Africa to date is not one of those pockets.

Glass Ceilings,  Glass Walls?

Of the names on this year’s Power Women list, 14 are under 45. Whether the majority of their influence remains in business, tech, politics or entertainment, there are two qualities they all strongly share: resilience and the desire to better the world.
Spanx founder Sara Blakely, 43, lands the No.93 spot on the list. In 2012, she became the youngest woman to join our Billionaires list without help from a husband or an inheritance. Blakely has come a long way since age 29, when she invested her entire life savings of $5,000 to invent the line of slimming undergarments. Spanx is worn and adorned by many women: Jane Fonda deemed it as the clothing equivalent of an iPhone, wondering, “How did we ever get on without them?”
While on the topic of body and brand, Lady Gaga is the youngest woman on this year’s list at No.67. With last year’s release of her third studio album, Artpop, the 28-year-old entertainer-advocate’s fame has faltered, but not enough to knock her off the list. The Queen Monster has a loyal following of fans who help her attain concert figures of holy proportions. She earned an estimated $50 million from her Born This Way tour.
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Angelina Jolie, 38, is another entertainer to make the list (No.50). With $33 million in earnings the past year (2013), she is one of the highest paid actresses in Hollywood. But even with her unrivaled status, Jolie’s true power and influence comes from her multifaceted ambitions as an activist and philanthropist.
No. 63 is Samantha Power, who was named United States ambassador to the United Nations in 2013. At 43, the former journalist and national security specialist is the youngest American to hold the post.
President Obama describes her as “one of our foremost thinkers on foreign policy”.
Then there are the women in tech, who are helping to redefine the industry as a place that is welcoming for females, like Amy Hood and Marissa Mayer (No.48 and 18 respectively). Last May (2013), Hood became Microsoft’s first female CFO, taking on the responsibility of managing the company’s $83.3 billion in revenue. Sheryl Sandberg, COO of Facebook, takes the No.9 spot on the Power list. The 44-year-old’s best-selling book Lean In is a title that needs no introduction (and one conference-goers will likely find in their gift bags).

Tag: Women

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