L
LequteMan
Guest
Although the oil and gas industry is still overwhelmingly male, with surveys showing that the executive boardrooms of petroleum companies are mostly a boys' club, however, a number of well-financed businesswomen are aiming to change the picture there.
In Nigeria, Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is a powerful figurehead for them.
"The fact that two of the biggest cabinet positions in Nigeria, petroleum and finance, are held by women, show how far we have come," she told a recent meeting in Vienna, referring to the other prominent female member of the cabinet - Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
"We are there not because we are women. We are there because of our competence as managers."
"I was surprised at how low the percentage of female directors was [in oil and gas firms around the globe] - 11%, most of them are in non-executive positions, 1% of executive board seats are held by women."
Also Dr Jadesimi, a former Goldman Sachs analyst, medical doctor and MBA in her thirties says that today, "woman are taking for granted, that of course a woman can reach the highest levels of society".
Ladol has turned a site reclaimed from a swamp and an industrial wasteland into a $500m (£300m) port facility to support offshore drilling operations, including ship repair, maintenance, engineering and construction.
It is planning a second phase of expansion that will take the investment to $1bn. "Nobody had done what we'd done before across the whole of West Africa," says Dr Jadesimi.
Catherine Uju Ifejika is chairman and chief executive of the Britannia U Group, a group of oil and gas companies. Her business bought a stake in a major oil and gas field, Ajapa. The reserves, according to Britannia, are worth $4.3bn.
"We are able to hold your homes together, and we are beginning to translate that into boardroom jobs, and then owning companies. In six years I have formed seven companies."
She says 70% of her staff are men, "and they're not used to having a woman as a chairman or chief executive - a woman, a black woman, a black African woman."
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide, a Lagos-based entrepreneur and former lawyer, is a leading advocate of research on women in business and government.
She argues that one of the reasons South Africa was the dominant economy in Africa for so long is that South African women have been deeply involved in businesses of all sizes.
She wants Nigerian women to think bigger - and to investment in areas such as oil and gas.
"I think we need to encourage women to have a broader executive skillset."
Yewande Sadiku is chief executive of the Lagos-based financing firm Stanbic IBTC Capital. She says that the lenders providing loans to Nigerian and other African women too often had a limited outlook.
They only think women are good customers for micro-finance loans, she argues.
"[This mentality] says, let's give them lots of small loans, 50,000 to 100,000 naira, ($300 to $700), so they can run small businesses and feed their families," she says.
"Raising funds is difficult, but to be honest, people trust women more,"
A series of studies by #McKinsey titled Women Matter, found that companies with a higher proportion of female executives showed stronger financial performance than those with no women in top positions.
The study showed that women tended to apply certain "leadership behaviours" more than men.
Culled from The BBC
#BBC #Nigeria
In Nigeria, Petroleum Minister Diezani Alison-Madueke is a powerful figurehead for them.
"The fact that two of the biggest cabinet positions in Nigeria, petroleum and finance, are held by women, show how far we have come," she told a recent meeting in Vienna, referring to the other prominent female member of the cabinet - Finance Minister Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala.
"We are there not because we are women. We are there because of our competence as managers."
"I was surprised at how low the percentage of female directors was [in oil and gas firms around the globe] - 11%, most of them are in non-executive positions, 1% of executive board seats are held by women."
Also Dr Jadesimi, a former Goldman Sachs analyst, medical doctor and MBA in her thirties says that today, "woman are taking for granted, that of course a woman can reach the highest levels of society".
Ladol has turned a site reclaimed from a swamp and an industrial wasteland into a $500m (£300m) port facility to support offshore drilling operations, including ship repair, maintenance, engineering and construction.
It is planning a second phase of expansion that will take the investment to $1bn. "Nobody had done what we'd done before across the whole of West Africa," says Dr Jadesimi.
Catherine Uju Ifejika is chairman and chief executive of the Britannia U Group, a group of oil and gas companies. Her business bought a stake in a major oil and gas field, Ajapa. The reserves, according to Britannia, are worth $4.3bn.
"We are able to hold your homes together, and we are beginning to translate that into boardroom jobs, and then owning companies. In six years I have formed seven companies."
She says 70% of her staff are men, "and they're not used to having a woman as a chairman or chief executive - a woman, a black woman, a black African woman."
Winihin Ayuli-Jemide, a Lagos-based entrepreneur and former lawyer, is a leading advocate of research on women in business and government.
She argues that one of the reasons South Africa was the dominant economy in Africa for so long is that South African women have been deeply involved in businesses of all sizes.
She wants Nigerian women to think bigger - and to investment in areas such as oil and gas.
"I think we need to encourage women to have a broader executive skillset."
Yewande Sadiku is chief executive of the Lagos-based financing firm Stanbic IBTC Capital. She says that the lenders providing loans to Nigerian and other African women too often had a limited outlook.
They only think women are good customers for micro-finance loans, she argues.
"[This mentality] says, let's give them lots of small loans, 50,000 to 100,000 naira, ($300 to $700), so they can run small businesses and feed their families," she says.
"Raising funds is difficult, but to be honest, people trust women more,"
A series of studies by #McKinsey titled Women Matter, found that companies with a higher proportion of female executives showed stronger financial performance than those with no women in top positions.
The study showed that women tended to apply certain "leadership behaviours" more than men.
Culled from The BBC
#BBC #Nigeria
