The Centre for Applied Research and Innovation in Supply Chain – Africa (CARISCA) has held a gender-focused webinar under the theme; ‘Navigating the gender maze in procurement and supply chain management: an expert view’ on 26th November 2020.
Professor Nathaniel Boso, Executive Director of CARISCA at KNUST, noted that the webinar would also focus on identifying and elevating the principal and crucial roles played by women and other disadvantaged groups in advancing development across Africa through the supply chain profession. He, therefore, welcomed participants to the webinar and encouraged them to actively participate in the discussions for greater benefits.
The moderator, Dr Matilda Owusu- Bio, Special Technical Advisor on Gender & Humanitarian Supply Chains for CARISCA, indicated that the involvement of women in all aspects of management can help boost the productivity of any business entity up to 30%.
For this reason, she added that CARISCA also seeks to engage women and other disadvantaged groups, especially those in procurement, logistics and supply chain management for the purposes of empowering them to seek top leadership positions.
She emphasized the importance of building a strong network between young professionals and women in supply chain positions through subsequent webinars, mentorship programs and other activities.
Mrs Stella Addo, a Procurement and Supply Chain Specialist, speaking on the theme, noted that ‘the gender maze is the complicated unequal treatment of people based on gender, sexuality, height, etc., in their profession’. She added that in the procurement and supply chain profession there is a gap in addressing the gender maze issue especially among women in the profession. Mrs. Addo noted that women have not been occupying higher positions as a result of the lack of female role models. To solve this recurring problem, Mrs. Addo presented seven essential tools needed to navigate the said gender maze.
Madam Alice Zu, President of Procurement & Supply Chain Management Association (PROSMA) Ghana, in her presentation, encouraged women to be focused, determined, self-actualizing and build good networks in order to get to the top of this male-dominated profession. She further encouraged women to educate and familiarize themselves with the Public Procurement Law as well as ACTs that govern the profession. She emphasized the need for women to be united and form solidarity to push them to the very top leadership positions in the profession.