Business Engage’s awards ceremony champions leaders of gender equality

Business Engage together with its partners recently held the 10th edition of the Gender Mainstreaming Awards 2022 at a glittering event at the Gallagher Estate in Midrand.  

Winners of the Accenture 10th Gender Mainstreaming Awards 2022 (GMAs) were celebrated at five outstanding live events across Africa. The events were well-attended by over 900 delegates across the African region.

The purpose of the awards is to celebrate gender mainstreaming champions from East, West and Southern African organisations and individuals recognised by the judges as being at the forefront of advancing the business case for gender mainstreaming.

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The company categories for celebrating the businesses’ achievements were Economic Empowerment, Women Empowerment in the Workplace, Equal Representation and Participation, Empowerment of Women in the Community, Women on Boards, Women on Executive Committees in Multinationals, Investing in Young Women and Gender Reporting by JSE-listed Companies.

Khethiwe Nkuna, Responsible Business Executive for Accenture in Africa, emphasised that issues of gender mainstreaming in the workplace are still commonly seen as a sundry matter – and this needs to change.

“Organisations must move beyond simply talking about it and create a workplace environment that genuinely supports the advancement of women and promotes equality,” she explained.

Winners

BAT East and Southern Africa were crowned the 2022 Gender Mainstreaming Champion: Africa. Regionally, the awards went to AECI Limited (South Africa) for Southern Africa, NMB Bank Plc (Tanzania) in East Africa and West Africa celebrated Old Mutual Life Assurance Company Limited (Ghana) for their gender mainstreaming strides.

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Other coveted awards included the Economic Empowerment award, which went to RCL Food Ltd, and the Mainstreaming Gender and Disability Award that went to Cummins Africa Middle East.

Accenture, the naming partner

This year marked the 10th round of celebrations, with Accenture as the naming partner for the third consecutive year. The awards was also sponsored by Johannesburg Stock Exchange (silver sponsor), Assupol, Imperial, Rand Merchant Bank, Tiger Brands and East Africa Breweries Ltd, and is presented in association with the 30% Club Southern and East Africa and the Human Rights Commission amongst others.

The awards entries were free of charge and judged by a well-respected panel of adjudicators across the continent.

“We are proud to have seen a 60% increase in overall entries received – phenomenal growth in itself – but also a big improvement in the quality of entries and the shared stories. A highlight which illustrates the value and growth of the GMAs in its 10th year,” said Colleen Larsen, Chief Executive at Business Engage.  

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At the awards, Nkuna stated that companies across Africa should support flexible work arrangements and comprehensive training programmes to help women thrive.

“We need to de-bias workplace systems to allow women to compete and contribute on an equal footing! We must create a pipeline of equal talent capable of adding genuine value to the organisation. It is ‘our’ responsibility – everyone represented in this room must play their part in this equality drive!”