British American Tobacco Kenya plc (BAT Kenya) is building diversity across its operations in East Africa aimed at promoting inclusivity with a focus on gender.
In advancing the Company’s Gender diversity agenda, it has launched the Women in BAT – East Africa Markets network.
“This is a key milestone in one of our key diversity pillars: Gender parity,” BAT Kenya said.
“And we are not yet there. We are working hard, through initiatives such as the Women in BAT Network, to reach our goal of 50/50 gender representation in all spheres of the organisation.”
Listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, BAT Kenya is also a signatory to the UN Global Compact’s Women Empowerment Principles (WEPs).
This is a set of principles aimed at promoting the empowerment of women by helping participating companies set robust targets and take action to advance women’s leadership in their organisations.
BAT Kenya Managing Director Crispin Achola says the company’s representation of women at the executive level is approximately 33 per cent while the representation of the total female population is approximately 40 per cent.
According to its 2020 annual report, in the year, BAT Kenya reinforced its commitment to the Diversity and Inclusion agenda, through three main strategic pillars: Leadership Readiness, Certification and Partnership and Corporate Enablers.
Other diversity initiatives include B United, a self-governed global community of lesbian, gay, bisexual, and trans (LGBT+) employees, and their allies; Women in STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) initiative that aims to attract, develop and retain more women across its operations.
Parents@BAT is an initiative that offers a minimum of 16 weeks of fully paid leave for new mothers and adoptive parents and a return-to-work guarantee.
Finally, its Women in Leadership programme supports women’s progression into senior roles.
