Gender Parity Will Come Sooner

The Managing Director of the ABN Group, Roberta Naicker, is Top Businesswoman of the Year at the 2018 Standard Bank Top Women Awards.

- Karen Mwendera

FOR OVER 11 YEARS, THE ABN GROUP, HOME TO THEFORBES AFRICA and CNBC Africa brands, has diligentlytold the African growth story and shared innumerable perspectives and lessons from the titans of industry. For over a decade now, Durban-born Roberta Naicker has been an intrinsic part of the company’s journey, and as its Managing Director, is today a success story herself.

In August, which is marked as Women’s Month in South Africa, Naicker won the Top Businesswoman of the Year Award at the 2018 Standard Bank Top Women Awards.

The function, at the Emperors Palace in Johannesburg, drew the prominent and the powerful; over 650 guests from top corporate companies, government departments and the entrepreneurial sphere. The awards were to recognize outstanding leadership among organizations and individuals who have stepped up and shaped the role of women within the private and public sectors.

“It was not an easy task, but with a dedicated group of men and women, we’ve been able to position Africa as the continent of tomorrow,” said an elated Naicker about the ABN Group as she received her award on a night filled with optimism.

In March 2008, Naicker was hired as the head of finance of the group, and had to find her feet in the media industry, which was a new territory for her. She has come far since.

She currently serves as a board member of the group, is the Chair and Managing Director of ABN Productions, ABN Pictures and the ABN Training Institute, is Chair of the ABN Education Trust, and Chair of ABN Nigeria and Kenya.

Women need effective support systems at home and Naicker credits her husband, Burton, for being her ‘rock’.

She spoke to FORBES WOMAN AFRICA about the recent win and why she believes gender parity will be achieved sooner with the 4th Industrial Revolution.

HOW DOES IT FEEL WINNING?