The West African Institute for Monetary and Financial Administration (WAIFEM) has declared that gender fairness isn’t just a query of equity however a strategic crucial for Africa’s long-term progress, innovation, and institutional resilience.
The declaration got here on the opening of a five-day regional workshop on “Girls in Management: Understanding Gender Dynamics within the Office,” held in Sinkor, Monrovia, from September 15-19, 2025.
The occasion, hosted in collaboration with the Central Financial institution of Liberia (CBL), introduced collectively policymakers, monetary managers, gender advocates, and professionals from throughout West Africa to strengthen ladies’s management capability and dismantle persistent obstacles to inclusion.
Representing WAIFEM’s Director Common, Dr. Baba Y. Musa, the institute’s Director of Governance and Institutional Growth, Dr. Alvin Johnson emphasised that Africa can not afford to underutilize half of its inhabitants’s expertise.
Comply with us on WhatsApp | LinkedIn for the newest headlines
“Analysis has proven that when ladies assume management roles, organizations profit from stronger governance, extra collaborative cultures, and larger innovation,” Dr. Johnson stated. “Mainstreaming gender isn’t just about political correctness–it is about financial effectivity, institutional resilience, and long-term sustainability.”
He careworn that WAIFEM has made gender inclusion a central pillar of its institutional technique, embedding fairness into its coaching packages and management initiatives.
“Between 2008 and 2015, ladies made up simply 27 % of WAIFEM’s coaching. By 2024, feminine participation had elevated to over 40 %,” Dr. Johnson revealed. “This progress is encouraging, however it additionally reminds us that extra deliberate motion is required to realize true parity.”
Dr. Johnson tied WAIFEM’s work to broader international proof, citing latest reviews from worldwide establishments.
“The Worldwide Financial Fund’s 2024 report discovered that closing the gender hole in management might elevate GDP by a median of 20 % throughout low- and middle-income international locations,” he famous. “Equally, the World Financial Discussion board estimated that persistent underfunding of women-led enterprises represents a missed alternative of greater than $5 trillion yearly.”
He added that the United Nations has lengthy affirmed gender equality as each a human proper and a basis for sustainable improvement.
“Our area can not afford to go away half of its expertise underutilized,” Dr. Johnson insisted. “Empowering ladies is a necessity for financial progress, social stability, and institutional energy.”
Dr. Johnson outlined WAIFEM’s method, which incorporates integrating gender views into all coaching packages, growing the variety of feminine facilitators, pushing member establishments to appoint extra ladies, and creating internships and mentorships for feminine graduates.
He additional introduced that WAIFEM plans to make the Girls in Management Program a recurring function of its coaching calendar, develop worldwide partnerships, publish gender-focused analysis, and construct structural profession pathways for ladies in economics, finance, and coverage.
Delivering the keynote handle on behalf of CBL Govt Governor Henry F. Saamoi, the Financial institution’s Chief Authorized Counsel, Cllr. Ruth M. Jappah-Samukai, described the workshop as “well timed and transformative.”
“This gathering isn’t just a platform for dialogue. It’s a clarion name for motion to make sure that management isn’t outlined by gender, however by expertise, integrity, and the flexibility to encourage outcomes,” she stated.
Cllr. Jappah-Samukai argued that gender inequities are sometimes embedded subtly in office culture–through choices about who’s mentored, who’s promoted, or whose voice is heard in conferences.
“Implicit bias, unequal energy constructions, and microaggressions silently restrict ladies’s potential. To rework workplaces, we should dismantle these invisible ceilings,” she urged.
She warned that regardless of progress; ladies stay severely underrepresented in international management.
“In 2024, ladies held solely 7.7 % of Fortune 500 management roles and fewer than 11 % of know-how management positions in Europe,” she stated. “In the meantime, ladies entrepreneurs proceed to safe solely a fraction of enterprise capital funding, representing a world missed alternative of over $5 trillion.”
Cllr. Jappah-Samukai echoed the phrases of Shirley Chisholm, the primary Black U.S. congresswoman, who famously stated that ladies ought to “carry a folding chair” when excluded from management areas.
Join free AllAfrica Newsletters
Get the newest in African information delivered straight to your inbox
Success!
Virtually completed…
We have to affirm your electronic mail handle.
To finish the method, please comply with the directions within the electronic mail we simply despatched you.
Error!
There was an issue processing your submission. Please strive once more later.
“At present, we should go additional,” she declared. “We should not solely declare seats–we should redesign the desk itself. Fairness have to be embedded in hiring, promotions, boardrooms, and budgets. This isn’t a ladies’s subject; it’s an organizational, financial, and ethical crucial.”
She referred to as for breaking stereotypes, participating males as allies, implementing equal pay, reforming office insurance policies, supporting ladies entrepreneurs, and guaranteeing accountability by way of gender-sensitive budgeting.
All through the five-day program, contributors will endure coaching in management abilities, negotiation, communication, and confidence-building, whereas additionally exploring systemic reforms wanted to advance gender parity in management throughout the area.
Each WAIFEM and CBL leaders expressed optimism that the workshop won’t solely equip ladies with technical abilities but additionally spark institutional change.
“Empowering ladies in management isn’t just about equity,” Dr. Johnson concluded. “It’s a strategic crucial for innovation, progress, and resilience. By means of this workshop, we’re laying the inspiration for stronger, extra inclusive establishments in West Africa.”
