376
A. Lugonzo and K. Chege
Investing in gender equality, for companies improves workforce
performance and enhances better Company- to- community relations.
15
It also provides access to financing and secures supply chains along the
extractives value chain, among other benefits that will be explained in
this chapter.
16
The demand for new kinds of skills in AI, digitalization and machine
learning is eliminating many jobs involving low and middle-skill routine
functions and tasks through automation. The BBC notes that an estimated 200 million people will lose their jobs as a result of the present
Covid-19 pandemic, and the financial burden often falls on the most
vulnerable categories of people in society, mostly women.
17 Digitalization and such pandemics have adversely affected the availability of jobs
for people.
It is vital to understand the shift and impacts of modern-day trends as
we advance the narrative of gender equality in the extractives sector. Our
ability to mitigate the impact on the workforce and the most vulnerable,
i.e. women is the conundrum facing most industries and countries. This
predicament warrants more attention as well as a speedy resolution.
In the African context, women account for more than half of the total
population; therefore, it is imperative to consider women in the implementation of policies. In 2019, African countries undertook to establish
the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
18 This
Agreement, once implemented, is set to establish Africa as the largest free
trade area in the world, by creating a single market for goods and services,
15 PwC Norway, ‘Investing in Gender Equality’ (2019) PwC Norway Report, 7, https://www.
google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwiv6YmFtrjpAhWy
URUIHZoKC2wQFjAAegQIARAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.storebrand.no%2Fasset-man
agement%2Fpublikasjoner%2F_%2Fattachment%2Fdownload%2F4ac78ed2-b927-4612-a2fe80cbebbf610b%3A595ed2730809c0622af216b95c1f0959af438888%2FInvesting_in_Gender_
Equality_20190628.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3Z9eqdO7JJvzajr_nxpD44, accessed April 28, 2020.
16 Ibid.
17 BBC, ‘Coronavirus: Four Out of Five People’s Jobs Hit by Pandemic’ (2020), https://www.
bbc.com/news/business-52199888, accessed April 10, 2020.
18 Kennedy Chege, ‘OPINION: Challenges to Promoting Intra-African Trade in the
Petroleum Industry in the Wake of the AfCFTA Agreement: Africa’s Insufficient Petroleum
Refining Capacity’ (2019), http://www.mlia.uct.ac.za/news/opinion-challenges-promoting-intraafrican-trade-petroleum-industry-wake-afcfta-agreement, accessed November 28, 2019.
A. Lugonzo and K. Chege
Investing in gender equality, for companies improves workforce
performance and enhances better Company- to- community relations.
15
It also provides access to financing and secures supply chains along the
extractives value chain, among other benefits that will be explained in
this chapter.
16
The demand for new kinds of skills in AI, digitalization and machine
learning is eliminating many jobs involving low and middle-skill routine
functions and tasks through automation. The BBC notes that an estimated 200 million people will lose their jobs as a result of the present
Covid-19 pandemic, and the financial burden often falls on the most
vulnerable categories of people in society, mostly women.
17 Digitalization and such pandemics have adversely affected the availability of jobs
for people.
It is vital to understand the shift and impacts of modern-day trends as
we advance the narrative of gender equality in the extractives sector. Our
ability to mitigate the impact on the workforce and the most vulnerable,
i.e. women is the conundrum facing most industries and countries. This
predicament warrants more attention as well as a speedy resolution.
In the African context, women account for more than half of the total
population; therefore, it is imperative to consider women in the implementation of policies. In 2019, African countries undertook to establish
the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Agreement.
18 This
Agreement, once implemented, is set to establish Africa as the largest free
trade area in the world, by creating a single market for goods and services,
15 PwC Norway, ‘Investing in Gender Equality’ (2019) PwC Norway Report, 7, https://www.
google.com/url?sa=t&rct=j&q=&esrc=s&source=web&cd=1&ved=2ahUKEwiv6YmFtrjpAhWy
URUIHZoKC2wQFjAAegQIARAB&url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.storebrand.no%2Fasset-man
agement%2Fpublikasjoner%2F_%2Fattachment%2Fdownload%2F4ac78ed2-b927-4612-a2fe80cbebbf610b%3A595ed2730809c0622af216b95c1f0959af438888%2FInvesting_in_Gender_
Equality_20190628.pdf&usg=AOvVaw3Z9eqdO7JJvzajr_nxpD44, accessed April 28, 2020.
16 Ibid.
17 BBC, ‘Coronavirus: Four Out of Five People’s Jobs Hit by Pandemic’ (2020), https://www.
bbc.com/news/business-52199888, accessed April 10, 2020.
18 Kennedy Chege, ‘OPINION: Challenges to Promoting Intra-African Trade in the
Petroleum Industry in the Wake of the AfCFTA Agreement: Africa’s Insufficient Petroleum
Refining Capacity’ (2019), http://www.mlia.uct.ac.za/news/opinion-challenges-promoting-intraafrican-trade-petroleum-industry-wake-afcfta-agreement, accessed November 28, 2019.