Despite the pandemic and the effects it had been ravaging on activities in the world, ZAM on 18th March 2021, hosted a woman in industry conference under the theme “Unveiling the economic Potential of Women in Industry in a Covid-19 world”. The first of its kind and the inaugural conference for ZAM brought together Women leaders, pioneers, business guru’s, industrialists, financial experts and engineers to discuss what women were accomplishing in the manufacturing industry.
The Conference had the following objectives: create a platform for dialogue and partnership among women from different sectors including leaders from the government, government institutions, international organization, manufacturing, financial and engineering sectors and other stakeholders; discuss the challenges that women are facing in industry to tailor solutions that specifically address the challenges and to celebrate the efforts of outstanding women in the manufacturing, engineering, financial sectors and other key strategic institutions supporting the manufacturing sector directly or indirectly.
At the conference, the then Zambia Association of Manufacturers President, Mr. Ezekiel Sekele delivered a presentation which highlighted the importance of women in manufacturing. Mr. Sekele pointed out how having women in industry provides for diversity, competition and how it can lead to a reduction in poverty levels around the world.
The first female Zambian Vice President graced the event. Her Honour Madame Inonge Mutukwa Wina was uplifted by the presence of women. Despite the tough environment of COVID-19 she was happy that women could gather to encourage, honour and celebrate one another for the strides made in a tough male dominated industry. She encouraged women to break the bias that they faced and to keep leading and pronounced that the conference should be held every year in honour of women in the manufacturing sector.
ZAM President Mr. Ezekiel Chisenga Sekele was happy to host the conference in honour of wome as he stated that the future was female. He noted that women in industry face a number of challenges among them were lack of adequate support system, an unfavorable business environment for women and jugglinga lot of competing responsibilities. Despite these challenges, he observed a silver lining that existed for women in the industry. Mr. Sekele challenged women to explore the cotton value chain which had a lot of openings with some parts of the value chain not undertaken in the country. He further said that fast growing demand for domestic goods provided a rare opportunity for increased market access and opportunities for growth.
The President said that the Conference was among the strategies that the Association implements to ensure that women participation in the manufacturing industry is enhanced. Aside which awarding outstanding women in manufacturing, providing women empowerment programs as well as providing trainings for women were some of the strategies that the Association implements. Mr. Sekele in his conclusion advised manufacturers to be more deliberate in addressing gender issues and that they should at least reserve 20% of the company’s jobs to women. Further, he noted that more women should be encouraged to take science, technology, engineering and mathematical programs and encouraged them to participate in women networking that would allow for them to share ideas and mentorship.
