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Women in Business report, 2018

Beyond policy to progress

The last year has seen global business take one step forward but one step back when it comes to gender diversity in leadership.

The percentage of businesses around the world with at least one woman in senior management has increased significantly, rising from 66% to 75% in the last year. But at the same time the proportion of senior roles held by women has marginally declined.

Africa tops our regions in gender diversity performance. Nigeria for instance has 95% of businesses with at least one
woman in senior management and hit a new high in terms of the proportion of senior roles held by women (30%). Meanwhile South Africa hit a new high of 80% of businesses with at least one woman in senior management and the highest proportion of senior roles held by women in a decade at 29%.

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"Over the last 13 years, the global number of women in leadership has grown by about 6%. This is encouraging to note that women are more and more occupying positions in senior management, though much still needs to be done to ensure that the efforts of women are recognized and rewarded accordingly." Tatenda Zimondi, Director, Grant Thornton Kenya.