A vital part of ensuring gender equality is encouraging women to plan for their financial futures.
Speaking at the annual CFO SA and CHRO gala dinner on 3 August 2022, Qhawekazi Mdikane, Momentum Corporate’s chief marketing officer, emphasised the importance of women’s financial literacy and freedom, which is a key component of the investment unit’s new advertising campaign.
Momentum Corporate sponsored the networking session, at which Qhawekazi unveiled its She Owns Her Success campaign. She explained that the company’s employee benefits unit repositioned itself last year based on insights into levels of financial understanding and literacy.
“This has left many South Africans feeling embarrassed that they don’t understand the value of employee benefits. We are on a journey to demystify the industry.”
More detail on the advertising campaign can be found here. It is based on the premise that the odds are stacked differently for each woman. “We may not be able to erase the barriers women face on their life journey, but we want to be the cheerleader who supports them with the right advice, tools, and experiences,” she said.
At the same time, Qhawekazi believes that this will provide growth for Momentum Corporate and its clients. “That’s how our businesses will grow and flourish. Happy employees lead to happy companies as they are more productive.”
The unit seeks to provide solutions that talk to people, instead of spreadsheets, she said. Mdikane pointed out that 6.3 million women are gainfully employed, accounting for 43.4 percent of the employment pool.
“For women to be really successful, we need allies, those that help us understand the financial world.”
The way women can get to the positions that they deserve and had earned within companies can be summed up in three key concepts, which Qhawekazi outlined:
- Take up space at the boardroom table, don’t be afraid.
- Speak up – vocalise your ideas and input – even when your voice is shaky.
- Be vulnerable, it’s no longer frowned on for women to let their emotional side show. “You have the power to be vulnerable in boardrooms.”
- Take the time to chat with young women.
Momentum is being intentional about empowering women, said Qhawekazi. Stage four of She Owns Her Success is currently running and is one of the unit’s biggest campaigns, featuring Lupita Nyong’o. Nyong’o is a Kenyan-Mexican actress and author, born in Mexico City at a time when her father, Kenyan politician Peter Anyang’ was teaching there.
Momentum will run three events during August to unpack topics to which women can relate. Partnership Connect 2022 is open to all women, and you can register here.
Qhawekazi concluded by saying: “We can’t ask men to be our allies if we don’t support each other.”
