Safaricom - 2020 Sustainable Business Report

71 INTRODUCTION OUR BUSINESS OUR MATERIAL TOPICS OUR STAKEHOLDERS CONCLUDING REMARKS We are committed to equal gender representation at all levels. Our target is to achieve 50:50 gender parity at senior management level by 2025. At the close of the reporting period, the proportion of women in senior management roles was 35 per cent (an increase of one per cent from FY19) and in our executive leadership it was 36 per cent (an increase of nine per cent from FY19). While we are satisfied that we are moving in the right direction, we acknowledge that there is still much work to be done if we are to achieve our ambitious target by 2025. Women in Leadership programmes In terms of achieving gender representation at senior levels, progress has been slower than we would like because this continues to be a multi-dimensional issue and one that affects technology companies like Safaricom disproportionately. The lack of women in senior positions is an issue that starts at tertiary-level educational institutions, which find fewer women applying to study technology-related subjects, and, even earlier, at school. We are addressing this ’external’ aspect of the issue through our Women in Technology (WIT) programmes, which seek to develop a pipeline of female talent in the field of technology (see the WIT summary presented in the Society section on page 63 of this report). Internally, our Women in Leadership (WIL) programmes, such as the Paa Dada initiative and the Safaricom Mowgli Mentorship programme, work to support and develop female leaders to create a pipeline of potential talent that is ready to assume senior positions within the firm. Overall, we trained 50 women through our WIL programmes during the year. Through the Safaricom Mowgli Mentorship Programme, specifically, we trained 15 mentors who are currently mentoring 30 mentees on career and personal growth. Six members of the programme were promoted during the year. Technology Division FY20 FY19 Female employees 24% 23% Employee gender diversity Executive leadership Permanent staff Senior management* Female staff Female staff Male staff Male staff 35% 65% 34% 66% 32% 68% 31% 69% 36% 64% 27% 73% 25% 75% 25% 75% 51% 49% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% 50% FY17 FY18 FY20 FY19 * Includes executive leadership