(Special for CAFS) World Bank roots for diversity parity in the boardroom

World Bank on Thursday rooted for more gender parity in Africa's corporate boardrooms.

World Bank's private arm International Finance Corporation (IFC) said Africa lags behind other regions when it comes to women's participation on both public and private corporate boards.

"Lack of women is emanates from lack of understanding of the benefits and necessity and benefits of having women on the board," Head of IFC African Corporate Governance Chinyere Almona said in Nairobi.

Speaking during the launch of Women Representation on Boards Report, Almona said research shows that firms tend to perform benefit when there is a critical mass of women on the board level.

"Having just one woman is not effective and is usually a form of tokenism," she said.

Kenya leads the continent on the number of women board members followed by South Africa in the continent.

She stated that Kenya's progressive constitution is largely responsible for relative large number of women on corporate boards.

However, the public sector has better female representation than the private sector. Almona noted that the low participation of women is normally blamed on lack of skilled women.

"We are optimistic that there are enough women with the abilities to perform at a senior level," she said.

The IFC official stated that boards with gender diversity tend to have better attendance compared to their peers without female representation.

Institute of Directors (IOD) Board Member Jessie Mutura said female board members are only effective if there are more than one.

Mutura said tapping into the female population helps to improve the country's economic productivity.

She added that gender diversity of boards helps to foster board unity which contributes to strong corporate performance. "Women directors help firms navigate strategic issues," she said.

The IOD noted that having a women's perspective in issues helps to set corporate priority. Endit