Why Do Women Lead Just 13% of Africa’s and 8% of Southeast Asia’s Fastest-Growing and Most Profitable Companies?
Why, despite a surge in entrepreneurship across Africa and Southeast Asia, are women still largely missing from the helm of the region’s most successful companies?
Mathilde Mitchell and I took a closer look at the Financial Times’ Africa's Fastest-Growing Companies and Fortune’s Southeast Asia 500 rankings last week. The results reveals a depressing - and unsurprising reality: women remain starkly underrepresented in corporate leadership. Despite an entrepreneurial boom, women still lead just 12% of Africa's and 8% of Southeast Asia's top-performing firms.
Funding: Still a Major Barrier
Globally, women own 22% of micro-businesses and 32% of small to medium-sized enterprises. Yet when it comes to breaking into high-growth territory, systemic barriers persist.
Women are 63 percentage points less likely than men to secure external funding. Even when they do, they receive significantly less: £22,162 on average compared to men's £50,638. This funding gap traps many women-led ventures in a cycle of survival rather than scale.
Women Leading the Way
In Southeast Asia, only 39 out of 500 companies ranked by Fortune are led by women. Notably, Thailand and Vietnam show stronger representation, particularly in finance, food, and healthcare.
In Africa, just 16 of the 130 firms listed by the FT are led or co-led by women, with promising examples emerging from Nigeria, South Africa, and standout solo entries from Zambia, Rwanda, and Tanzania.
Chilufya Mutale-Mwila, Co-Founder and CEO of eShandi
Take Chilufya Mutale, CEO and co-founder of Zambia’s eShandi. Ranked fourth overall, eShandi has disbursed over $11 million in loans since 2019 and now operates across four countries. Mutale’s vision was powered by personal sacrifice: she and her husband sold their home to fund the business in its early days. Her success underscores the strength and resilience that many women bring to business.
Tan Su Shan, CEO at DBS Group Holdings
Another great example is Tan Su Shan of Singapore's DBS Group Holdings. Under her leadership, the firm’s wealth assets have grown by 20% annually since 2010. She also founded the Financial Women’s Association to provide career support for women in finance.
So, Where Do We Go From Here?
Solving this underrepresentation requires intentional action. It’s the usual stuff we bang on about:funding women equitably, celebrating visible role models, building inclusive ecosystems and prioritising retention through flexible, supportive career pathways and mentorship
Women-led companies in fintech, education, and healthcare are already outpacing expectations, even with fewer resources.
The question is no longer if we should support women. It’s how long we're willing to wait before we make gender parity a reality.
Silicon Valley’s famous motto “move fast and break things” may be overused, but perhaps it’s high time we applied it where it truly matters: advancing female leadership. We need to move fast, break the glass ceiling and create real opportunities for women to make their mark in the business world - or risk overlooking yet another generation of extraordinary, untapped talent.
