Allianz Africa participated in the 3rd edition of the Women Working for Change Summit, a flagship international event organized by the AFRICA CEO FORUM. This digital meeting brought together more than 300 leading African women leaders to discuss the theme “Think tomorrow, change today“.
Several women from Allianz Africa took part in this event to promote the values of Allianz Group, for which gender equality is a source of diversity, creativity and efficiency.
Allianz Africa hosted the workshop “Cognitive Bias, Enemies of Leadership“, introduced by Delphine Traoré, COO of Allianz Africa. She talked about her own experience with prejudices and shared with the participants advice to better understand their professional career as women, but also to better support the development of Africa of tomorrow.
Among the main points on which Delphine insisted is the neutralization of emotions, at least in appearance: “We cannot change the world around us if our emotions are beyond us. Yes, we are women, yes, we are emotional, but in the workplace we must work to neutralize our emotions and appear as impassive as our male colleagues, if not more. They can afford to express themselves emotionally, but with less risk of being judged. However, if a female counterpart does it, they will stop listening to her“.
Regionally, 47% of the total workforce of Allianz Africa are women. The entities of Allianz on the continent have 32% minimum of women in leadership positions, as well as other entities of the Allianz Group worldwide. The ratio of women in management committees is more than the majority in some countries. Allianz Africa has also placed two women in control of its subsidiaries: Adja Samb in Senegal and Adeolu Adewumi-Zer in Nigeria.
The promotion of women to highly strategic positions in Africa continues with the recent appointment of Nandini Wilcke as Regional Director of Mergers, Acquisitions and Transformation at Allianz Africa.
Like other Allianz entities around the world, Allianz Africa has implemented various initiatives to promote gender parity, but also equal professional opportunities in general, including:
- The AZAF4WOMEN initiative which aims to promote women leaders within the African entities through training programs, workshops co-creation, etc;
- The JET program to support women in their career development, fostering their mobility across the Group by establishing sponsorship and mentoring systems;
- The creation of flexible employment opportunities in order to allow a balance between personal and professional life.
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