1. Positive Effects of Board Diversity on Business Performance
Baku, 9 March 2017
Merima Zupcevic Buzadzic
Regional Corporate Governance Lead

2. THE BUSINESS CASE FOR BOARD GENDER DIVERSITY
Organizational performance
Operational efficiency
Stakeholder engagement
Financial performance
Access to finance?

3. PICKING THE BEST “ALL-STAR” TEAM INTERNALLY AND WITH OUR CLIENTS
Why Does IFC Care About Board Diversity?
PICKING THE BEST “ALL-STAR” TEAM INTERNALLY AND WITH OUR CLIENTS

4. Impacts Organizational Performance
What do women bring to the board?
Improved Performance Across the “Board”

5. Impacts Financial Performance
What does Research tell us about Gender Diversity on Boards?
BETTER RETURNS
IMPROVED VALUATION
Improved Performance Across the “Board”
STRONG RISK MANAGEMENT
HIGHER GROWTH
Source: Credit Suisse (August 2012)

6. Impacts Operational Efficiency
What does Research tell us about Gender Diversity on Boards?
Improved Performance Across the “Board”

7. REGIONAL CONTEXT AND CHALLENGES

8. Female representation on company boards still low (below 40% target)
Share of women fallen critically in the past several years
Some improvements in the financial Industry and listed companies (subject to most regulation)
Legislative initiatives have yielded limited progress; currently no quotas for women on boards in the developing part of Europe and Central Asia

9. HOW IFC IS WALKING THE TALK

10. RESEARCHING BUSINESS CASE
Research the business case for women’s participation in senior management and leadership
RAISING AWARENESS
Raise awareness on women’s contributions to effective corporate governance and profitability
STRENGTHENING SKILLS
Train senior women executives to expand the pool of talented, qualified leaders
BOARD DIVERSITY IN IFC’S INVESTEES
30% women target for board directors in IFC investee companies

11. What can companies do?

12. Thank you! ifc.org/corporategovernance