The patriarchal foundation of African society has undermined the possibility of women to assume leadership positions.
Nevertheless, things are changing and it is no longer a wonder when women ascend to leadership positions alongside their male counterparts.
Currently, there are only four NSE-listed companies in Kenya where the Boards of Directors are chaired by women.
Uchumi Supermarket’s Board is led by Dr Catherine Ngahu. She is an accomplished research consultant who founded SBO Research, a leading Marketing Research and Training Company that was ranked number 8 in the 2011 Top 100 Midsize Companies Awards.
In her area of expertise, she has consulted for a wide range of public and private firms including the World Bank Group and the United Nations for over eighteen years.
Eveready East Africa is chaired by Lucy Waithaka who is also the current General Manager, Enterprise and Product Development of the Export Promotion Council (EPC) - a national trade promotion organization in charge of development and promotion of Kenya’s exports.
She has organized and led market studies and export promotion missions to several international markets in Europe, USA and Japan, providing business to business linkages for Kenyan exporters.
Standard Chartered Bank’s Anne Mutahi was appointed to the Board in 2009.
She has vast experience in the financial sector having worked for Middle East Bank, ABN AMRO Bank, Citibank and Jitegemee Trust Limited where she recently served as the Chief Executive Officer.
Isabella Ochola Wilson, the Chairperson of Unga Limited has a BA degree in Business Administration from the University of Dar-es-Salaam and an MBA (Marketing) from the University of British Columbia, Canada.
Isabella is also a Director at NIC Bank Limited and a member of the University Council, Technical University of Kenya.