We are the captains of our ships.
August is National Women’s Month. But unfortunately, I think the effectiveness of setting aside a month for a cause – however praiseworthy – is marginal. But if we look at where women stand in society, whether in the workplace or at home, there is still a long journey for us to sail before we land on equitable shores. So, some things must be done.
The World Economic Forum (WEF) recently published its Global Gender Gap Report 2022. It shows South Africa ranks 123 (out of 146 countries) in terms of wage equality for similar work. If we look at the percentage of companies with a majority female ownership, it is a very low 8,7%. According to Deloitte, the share of women on corporate boards globally is roughly 15% – and 20% for South Africa. There are, of course, deep historical reasons for these low numbers.
While the gender equality ship has set sail, we must be at the helm to make sure it is going forward. For this reason my five colleagues and I recently talked about being “the captain of my ship”. The theme was chosen for several reasons and is an attempt to navigate away from gender-based adjectives that, for example, label me as a “female” CEO rather than just a CEO. How we talk about or describe ourselves and others can reflect ingrained social bias. Being the captain of my ship also means we have earned our positions through merit. We want to inspire others – men and women – to treat each other as equals and to know everyone’s voice matters and should be heard. Look out for what we have to say on our social media pages throughout August.
Last month, our Innovation Campus staged its third energy webinar. The theme was “The energy market outlook in Southern Africa and the impact of the accelerated energy transition”. The panellists looked at opportunities in Southern Africa in the oil and gas (O&G), renewables and hydrogen energy sectors.
As Ipeleng Selele, CEO of RSS Trade and Investments, said there has been a lot of talk about the energy transition, but “now things need to happen”.
The Saldanha Bay Industrial Development Zone and our primary stakeholders – Transnet, Transnet Port Authority and the Saldanha Bay Municipality – are ready to help make that happen. Finally, we have re-branded the SBIDZ and will now be known as Freeport Saldanha: Industrial Development Zone.
More about this later.
