Page 69 - Forbes - Africa (March 2020)

ADVERTORIAL BY TOTAL SOUTH AFRICA
MARIAM KANE-GARCIA
LEADS THE WAY AT TOTAL SOUTH AFRICA
nspiring women to lead in the energy
sector and industry at large to improve
the imbalance of representation, is an
Iambition to be realised by all, according
to Mariam Kane-Garcia, the newly appointed
CEO and Managing Director of Total
South Africa.
She wants to encourage and inspire
people to push the boundaries of possibility,
regardless of the minority groups they belong
to; while at the same time emphasising the
importance of not doing so at the expense or
the credibility of minority groups, specifically
women in leadership.
She lives with the conviction that a diverse
workforce and management team drives the
competitiveness of the business, the ability to
innovate, the ability to attract opportunities
and their social license to operate.
“At Total, we enable all our employees to
develop their professional skills and
advance in their career without discrimi-
na-tion of any kind.”
However, the presence of women leader-
ship in the energy sector is still insufficient,
despite progress. The ‘Global Energy Talent
Index Report 2020’, found that women make
up only 8% of the workforce in the global oil
& gas sector, 9% in each of the petrochemical
and power sectors, 12% in the nuclear sector,
and 15% in the renewables sector.
Furthermore, says the report, only 17% of
women (of an already small pool) are placed
on leadership training programmes, compared
to 22% of men. And the fact that women have
shown preference to training, learning and
development suggests that they’re still coming
up against a glass ceiling and are eager for
opportunities to smash through it.
Mariam emphasises that there is an op-
portunity for all in tackling the imbalance and
being catalysts for change instead of casualties
for change. Diversity is a key performance
lever for success and both men and women
have a critical role to play in realising much
change to rebalance industries. The task is not
to shoulder the typical roles assigned in in-
dustry, but for women and men to interlink as
Mariam Kane-Garcia, CEO and
Managing Director of Total South Africa talent linked initiatives like Buskaid and Afrika
the connective fibre that will materialise the
successful growth of industries in a notable
way, as well as the economy.
The reasons for women’s underrepre-sen-
tation in the sector are complex. There are
historical factors. Even today, research suggest
that young girls are not encouraged to eye
careers in what is considered a technical, or
masculine industry.
With that in mind, it’s critical that women
pursue and embrace the opportunities that
come their way, says Mariam Kane-Garcia,
who is the first woman to hold the senior
position at Total South Africa. “Total offered
me a managed career path and I seized these
opportunities successfully,” she says.
This reciprocal relationship with Total
has kept Kane-Garcia with the company for
nearly 20 years. She grew up in West Africa –
Mauritania and Côte d’Ivoire – and attended
the ESCP Business School in Paris. She joined
Total shortly after finishing at the ESCP in
2001, and has held a series of positions in
finance, strategy, and business development
at group offices in France, the UK, Singapore
and Vietnam. In 2019, she moved to South Af-
rica as Executive Vice President for marketing
and services Southern Africa, and as CEO and
Managing Director of Total South Africa.
As a vocal champion for diversity and in-
clusivity, she feels strongly that women should
be represented, not as a minority, but because
they are deserving. This will ensure that the
wrong message is not sent and that it does
not dilute the impact of their performance in
achieving their status.
Not only do women have to be placed in
more leadership positions, but they also need
more exposure to technical roles, starting with
education and vocational training.
Total South Africa is committed to long
term partnerships within the communities in
which it operates and has partnered with the
Department of Agriculture, Forestry and Fish-
eries Female Entrepreneurship Awards since
2003. Total South Africa also supports other
Tikkun, to create shared value and ensure the
development of women at grassroots.
In 2006, the company created its own
Total Women Initiative for Communication
and Exchange (TWICE) Network as a plat-
form to help women find their way
and fulfil their potential in the company,
and Kane-Garcia herself set up the Twice
Network for Total UK’s upstream operations.
When it comes to gender equality, both
women and men have to contribute.
We stand to benefit from women and
men’s unique contributions to truly propel
the energy sector forward. We need to create
solutions with a business model as to not
simply place a band-aid on issues but rather
create sustainable solutions with a long-term
commitment to solve and
defy barriers.
She concludes that, “If we are more in-clu-
sive, we are more connected; and if we are
more diverse, we are more creative in solving
the challenges we face.”
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