Tanzania’s professional women need to rise to the occasion and play a more significant role in taking the country to the next level, Dr Betty Kwoko Mgimba, Equity Bank Tanzania’s Head of Customer Service & Experience has urged.
Dr. Betty, a 2021 WIMA awardee, was addressing the Women In Management Africa (WIMA) award 2022 winners ceremony in Dar es Salaam recently. She said women in leadership can learn a lot from Her Excellency, Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, the President of the United Republic of Tanzania. In political leadership, the President has broken the ceiling and set a formidable pace on what a woman can do and achieve.
“In our beloved President Mama Samia Suluhu Hassan, we have a great role model to look up to,” she noted. She commended women in the corporate world at WIMA awards who have broken the ceiling but noted that they could not afford to be complacent as there was still so much work to be done. “WIMA seeks to close the gender gap by increasing visibility, training and honouring women in leadership in Africa. It has become an important annual platform for recognising and appreciating women leaders who have, through extraordinary circumstances, made it to the prestigious awards” she noted.
Dr. Betty challenged the women in the corporate world to wake up to the immense expectations that lie in front, which, if met, will give them a platform to be better role models and achievers in their rightful positions of being supporters of national development.
“As women leaders, we owe it to our future generations to show them that being a woman doesn’t represent weakness, retreat to the back dark corner during executive or board meetings, or silence when decisive discussions are being held; that it does not represent vulnerability but power and decisiveness, showcasing by example and willpower.,” she said. “Despite women, in many instances, being marginalized and put in a disadvantaged position through culture, inequality or bias, time and time, we have proved that we can achieve beyond expectations,” she added.
Dr. Betty noted that WIMA has been loud and clear about the women in leadership to wake up and join forces. She highlighted that it is time for women leaders to wake up because it is a lesson that there is much more that lies ahead of each woman and to recognize the immense expectations that lie in front of women that need to be delivered in a ‘woman’s style’ of being foresighted, strategic and resilient.
In her keynote address, she said Tanzania had made broad gains in women’s entrepreneurship, but more needed to be done. Quoting Women Entrepreneurship Development in Tanzania Report, she called on women to be involved in effective policy leadership and coordination to promote women’s entrepreneurship development.
“We have made some strides in access to gender-sensitive financial services – like the Fanikisha Account in Equity Bank or other women-centric accounts, but it is a work in progress,” she noted.
She advised women to lobby for gender-sensitive business development support services and access to markets and technology which will redefine their businesses and give more support to the national economy and workforce.
WIMA awards celebrate top women and the companies behind them. “These annual awards honour and applaud outstanding leadership, inspiration, vision and innovation, in organisations that play a role in advancing women to the forefront of the economy. Covering all major economic sectors, and awarding business from SME- to national-level.
