Faith & Financial Freedom

It has been said that there are a few things that should never be discussed over dinner: politics, faith and finance. Yet on a continent which is home to a significant proportion of some of the world’s major religions, where female representation within decision-making within government lags global averages[1], we did away with this table etiquette during one of our recent discussions at Grace, our curated space for African female change-makers. Rather, the conversation was contextualised by the macro-economic realities and the solutions were looked for both spiritually and practically.

The gender pay gap is real: globally, women tend to earn 84% of what men earn in similar roles[2], while in Ghana for instance, studies have shown that women typically earn 70% of what their male counterparts earn[3]. The venture capital -backed start-up scene is is even more unequal. Amid the fanfare around the continent’s start-ups receiving over USD4bn in VC capital last year, only 1% of that amount went to only female-led start-ups operating on the continent[4].

While Africa is the region which is more likely to have female entrepreneurs than any other region of the world, women are exposed to greater financial constraints, for instance, fewer assets and savings compared to men [5]. That said, there are some green shoots of positive change. In Rwanda for instance, wage inequality is reducing between the sexes: it comes 7th in the world’s most gender-equal countries[6] and between 2014 and 2019, the proportion of women in senior roles doubled[7].  

In view of these realities, the women of Grace, led by a senior executive within one of Africa’s leading utility companies, shared spiritual perspectives and practical steps towards gaining greater financial freedom in the areas of tackling debt, a ‘get rich quick’ posture, savings and investment.

We are an African-owned and managed firm delivering local knowledge supporting transformative and sustainable strategic decision-making. To find out more about our work on women, entrepreneurship and impact, please get in touch at advisory@songhaiadvisory.com – we would love to hear from you!

 
*Photo by DESIGNECOLOGIST on Unsplash

[1] https://www.brookings.edu/blog/africa-in-focus/2022/02/23/priorities-for-advancing-womens-equal-political-leadership-in-the-coming-year/

[2] https://www.forbes.com/sites/ashleystahl/2022/01/21/the-pandemic-and-the-gender-pay-gap-in-2022/?sh=7fa3f4f9347d

[3] https://www.wider.unu.edu/sites/default/files/Publications/Working-paper/PDF/wp2021-10-gender-wage-gaps-Ghana.pdf

[4] https://techcrunch.com/2022/03/15/6-african-women-ceos-discuss-how-they-raised-more-than-1m-in-2021/

[5] World Bank. Profiting from Parity.

[6] World Economic Forum’s 2021 Global Gender Gap Index

[7] https://www.weforum.org/agenda/2022/03/6-surprising-facts-gender-pay-gap/