Women in Business Committee
Networking: A Path to Success
Speakers:
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Mr. Hisham Fahmy,
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Executive Director, American Chamber of Commerce in Egypt (AmCham Egypt) |
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Bridging the gap
between Americans and Arabs .
The Women in Business Committee met on April 13 with guest speaker
Samar Dahmash, the author of the book Arab Voices Speak to American
Hearts, which highlights the significance of Arabs speaking out
to the Americans. Her presentation, entitled "Bridging the gap between
Americans and Arabs," explained many of the key points she raised
in her book. Dahmash explained that the Arabs have contributed to
the incorrect stereotype they have in American eyes.
She noted that many Americans associate Arabs with terrorists such
as Osama bin Laden and Ayman El Zawahiri, without being aware of
positive Arab role models such as Ahmed Zewail, Naguib Mahfouz and
Mohamed ElBaradei. The Arab-American author explained that the Americans
erroneously believe there are different versions of the Quran, and
that all Muslim women are oppressed and do not have the right to
education or work.
The reason, she says, lies mainly in the fact that they are not
exposed to credible Arab programs that explain Arab culture, norms
and tradition. Americans are willing to listen and try to understand,
she notes, but the problem lies on the Arab side: Arabs complain
about their situation but never dare to change it. While Dahmash's
book is very interactive, and she holds many interviews and debates
using quotes from the Quran and hadith (sayings of the Prophet)
to support her views, her efforts alone cannot establish a better
image for both Arabs and Islam. She calls for high-quality English-language
programs that can reach American audiences and deliver the appropriate
messages to the West. Women can play an active role in this, she
insists, suggesting that Egyptian women could, for instance, create
an organization or website that conveys truthful information about
Arab women and their lifestyle.
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Corporate governance
and its importance for Egypt
Speakers:
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Mr. Martin Steindl,
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Project
officer of IFC - Private Enterprise Partnership - MENA
Egypt Corporate Governance Project |
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AmCham's Women in Business and Legal Affairs committees held a
joint meeting on February 23 on "Corporate governance and its importance
for Egypt." Guest speaker Martin Steindl, project officer of IFC
- Private Enterprise Partnership - MENA Egypt Corporate Governance
Project, discussed the topic, explaining the essential differences
between corporate governance, which he defined as a series of structures
and processes by which corporations are directed and controlled
to ensure fair, transparent and accountable corporate behavior,
and corporate management, whose sole focus is the tools required
to operate the business.
According to Steindl, corporate governance helps to ensure that
the company is managed in the interest of its shareholders. Quality
of the board, information, incentives, shareholder protection and
stakeholder relations are key elements to guarantee good corporate
governance, he said.
Focusing on Egypt, Steindl cited the example of family-owned enterprises
(FOEs), where the dominant shareholder is a family member. In order
for these companies to be successful, Steindl stressed the importance
of having a strong board of directors that guarantees non-comprising
standards of merit-based personnel decisions, allows clear lines
of authority for different areas of business, and ensures the stability
and continuity of family policies and values. Appointing independent,
non-family directors complements the family's business skills with
the fresh strategic perspectives of qualified outsiders. It also
infuses new ideas, and ensures equal treatment of family and non-family
executives, he added.
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The use of power management techniques
by women
The Women in Business Committee met on February 19 with guest
speaker Rita Maselli Boucicaut, consulting partner, IMI - Int'l
Marketing & Management Institute, to discuss the topic "The use
of power management techniques by women," highlighting the significance
of coping with gender differences in the work place. Boucicaut stated
that women should understand the true meaning of power, which is
about knowing what works and what doesn't, making informed decisions
and using high-impact techniques to attain their goals. She emphasized
that women managers must be encouraged to embrace power, and offered
her strategies on how to succeed in the business world.
According to Boucicaut, 10.6 million firms worldwide are at least
50-percent women-owned, and between 1997 and 2004 the number of
women-owned firms grew at 17 percent, about twice the rate of all
firms. Currently, women-owned firms employ 19.1 million people and
generate $2.5 trillion in sales.
A survey of 200 American Fortune 500 companies revealed that companies
with the highest percentage of women on top management teams had
better financial performance than companies with lower ratios of
female management. Unfortunately, she said, the wage gap between
male and female managers in the US actually widened between 1995
and 2000, and the number of sexual harassment claims from 1992 to
2000 rose by more than 50 percent. Boucicaut stated that a major
obstacle is the perception that female managers are emotional, detail-oriented,
non-competitive, take everything personally, can't separate personal
life from work and are unable to make tough decisions. In order
for women to alter this stereotype, they should learn to say "no,"
delegate responsibilities to others, be less perfection-oriented,
define their priorities and create action plans.
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Women doing business in the MENA region: opportunities and obstacles
On January 25, AmCham's Women in Business Committee hosted guest
speaker Carmen Niethammer, director of the Gender Entrepreneurship
Markets (GEM) program of the International Finance Corporation (IFC)
in a meeting on "Women doing business in the MENA region: opportunities
and obstacles," to discuss the role of the organization in empowering
women in the Middle East and North Africa.
Based on her research conducted on four Arab countries - Egypt,
Oman, Morocco and Yemen - women in the region comprise an untapped
economic resource. Niethammer's findings revealed that the unemployment
gap between males and females in the MENA region is the largest
in the world, constituting 6 percent, whereas the percentage of
women in the labor force, 32 percent, is the lowest in the world.
If these women were to join the workforce, there would be a potential
increase of 20-25 percent in the net family income.
Niethammer stated that the percentage of women entrepreneurs varies
from 3-18 percent across the MENA region, most of whom are owners
of informal, micro- and home-based businesses. She stressed the
need to enhance the capabilities of women in this domain by spreading
awareness and providing the training and finance necessary for starting
small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs).
Programs under the IFC focus on empowering women by maximizing their
contribution to private sector development and targeting solutions
that promote fast-track growth in women-owned SMEs. Niethammer then
drew attention to the challenges women confront in the region; such
as certain socio-cultural barriers hindering their mobility, lack
of access to networks, and more importantly, lack of access to finance
or credit channels. Many banks either refuse to give women loans
or just impede the procedures by raising the interest rate or shortening
the repayment period. In addition to that, only a small number of
banks serve the SME market. Thus one of the main responsibilities
of the GEM is to increase this number.
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Entrepreneurship
AmCham's Women in Business Committee met on December 28, 2005 with guest speaker
Aziza Berry, managing director of The Design Emporium, to discuss
the topic of "entrepreneurship," highlighting her success
story as an entrepreneur.
Berry has worked in different fields: first in the Arab League as
a translator, then at the United Arab Emirates embassy as a coordinator,
then as a student coordinator, and later as the tender department
manager at the Saudi American Suppliers Company. She has also worked
as a board member of the Institute of Linguists, and as an official
interpreter for the police court.
She was also the founder of several NGOs, including Egyptian Women
for Mixed Marriages, which helps women new to the country and their
families find homes, and to solve the problems they may confront.
She also formed a group to translate prisoners' rights and convey
their messages to the authorities. In addition to that, she formed
a group to support Arab children facing abuse.
Endowed with wide-ranging experience, Berry decided to launch her
own business in Egypt. In 1993, she opened a retail outlet for textiles,
fabrics, wallpaper and home accessories. It was an innovative idea
for Egypt at that time.
Today, her company, The Design Emporium, represents 45 international
agents, with 20 distributors in Cairo and Alexandria.
Berry's experience demonstrates that with ambition and hard work,
women can succeed in business. She advised those attending the meeting
that they could follow her example to achieve their goals.
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