Focusing on Equalizing The Divide By Increasing Female Participation

Africa’s labour landscape needs rejuvenation, with a focus on greatly increasing female representation.

Although there have been some strides in terms of closing the gender gap that exists in the workplace, there remains quite some work to be done.

Unfortunately, female participation in Sub-Saharan Africa is still low, especially in Nigeria, where more than 50% of the female population is out of work.

This is why more entities need to get a hold of the gender gap in their spheres and seek to close it.

MAX is leading the way in this regard. With plans to restructure the divide well in place, MAX has committed to increasing female representation in the MAX workforce to 50% by 2025.

Since February 2021, 65 women have been added to our work pool, which now represents 35% of all new hires. There are also a number of high-level female executives, including Fadekemi Fowowe, Head of People Operations, and Lolu Desalu, Director of Marketing, who are now doing great work at MAX.

This is ahead of most other entities, including socially conscious ones, in the African mobility sector.

This also shows significant growth at MAX, given that this statistic stood at 14% a year ago.

To date, a significant 47 female MAX Champions have been equipped and empowered, all of whom now call MAX home, This was previously unprecedented in this space, it being a male-dominated field.

However, we recognize that true progress can only be achieved with a significant focus on women’s empowerment.

The majority of women who work today in Sub-Saharan Africa remain in the informal sector. And a lot of those who attempt to go into the formal sector are not given the opportunity to. The misinformation that has existed in this regard does not help matters.

Many believe that it may not be intelligent economics to shift workforce focus when, in fact, data supports the inverse. We now know that by increasing female participation by just 25%, the global economy can get a $5.8 trillion boost by 2025.

Admittedly, the African labour force is transforming. More people are beginning to realize that significant progress is only now achievable by focusing on redesigning the status quo.

Even at that, many organizations, both government and private, are yet to grasp the enormity of this untapped section of workers.

Norms of women in the job market, their employment, and informal duties are all influenced by different degrees of economic progress and social stigma, among other factors.

While progress in gender equality has been made in global labour markets as a result of economic and social advancements, progress in Africa has yet to catch up with current world standards.

With domestic and informal work variations still heavily resting on women, there need to be standards set by organizations to ensure that more women are given opportunities and equalization becomes a reality.

MAX is excited about what the future holds. The tech mobility space is on the verge of incredible things with new advancements springing up, the MAX E M3 and the exciting T1 included. Commuters, Champions, Mobility personnel, and stakeholders can look ahead hopefully as the MAX community continues to change its outlook, metamorphosing into an even more inclusive, open, engaging, equal, and harmonious environment.