Investment in regards to women is a tale as quiet as the grave. In the 20th century, only 22 years ago, women had limited opportunities to learn about investing in the stock market.
Many women were socialized to believe that matters of finances, inclusive of loans, mortgages, and investments, were only to be dominated by men. Young girls in school were offered No financial education.
All is not lost, for women are claiming full equality. Even though they still earn less, according to the World Economic Forum report, where a Kenyan woman is paid Sh55 for every Sh100 paid to a man for a similar job, certain job opportunities have been wilfully granted. These opportunities include CEO, financial advisor, entrepreneur, medical practitioner, paralegal, marketing advisor, etc.
Nevertheless, this has not changed a huge fraction of the financial realm for women. The Human Development for Everyone report released and compiled based on estimates for 2015 indicated that women make up 62.1 percent of the total labor force compared to 72.1 percent of the men surveyed during the same period.
The same report indicated that while Kenyan men earned an estimated gross national income (GNI) per capita for males of $3,405 (Sh350,715) in 2015, this was far higher when compared to $2,357 (Sh242,771) for females.
Because they earn less than men and are less likely to control assets, women are not leading in investment and entrepreneurial activities. Women are being encouraged to manage their assets, but surprisingly, they don’t feel comfortable when it comes to investing. And a tiny percentage of women feel they have the financial capacity for investment.
Women will prosper in the workplace and succeed as entrepreneurs when societal, legal, and social barriers are broken, and full participation in the economy is granted.
USAID Acting Administrator John Barsa once said at a roundtable discussion in Kenya: “When women are economically empowered, they re-invest in themselves, their families, and communities. These investments grow and multiply to spur economic growth and build stability.”
Encouraging and creating a financially empowering environment for women to invest is what it takes for women in Kenya to grow in the investment sector.
The government-led relief measures often do not reach “mama mboga.” Resilience depends on women having easy access to capital and business support. That brings us to the understanding that if hard work paid, Kenyan women would be the richest in the world. But hard work does not pay; smart work and equal financial opportunity do.
The Kenyan woman in an urban setting is primarily a businessperson without formal business training or practical advice. She just knows how to raise capital, put it into a business, and hope.
Africa, with its exceptionally entrepreneurial women and its vast gender gap in corporate business, has the most to gain from closing the gap. Investing in the continent’s women is an accelerator to recovery and beyond.
Research shows that large companies with better gender balance in leadership outperform, as do companies founded by women entrepreneurs.
Imagine when more funds, more investors, and more governments align their strategies and money to uplift women financially. It has begun, but there’s a long way to go.
