Gender inclusion: Women leading more Central Banks globally

Women are leading more central banks than ever before, thanks to appointments in the past year. However, recent gains still leave the share of female governors far short of parity, says the International Monetary Fund (IMF).

The number of women in governor roles rose to 29 this year from 23 last year, though that left the share of female leaders at just 16 percent of the world’s 185 central banks, according to an April report by the Official Monetary and Financial Institutions Forum.

Greater gender balance in senior positions may help increase the diversity of thought and checks and balances, in turn contributing to increased economic and financial stability and improved performance, the IMF research shows.

According to the fund, appointments this year in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Papua New Guinea are examples of how smaller economies are driving more progress on gender balance, according to OMFIF, a London-based think tank for monetary, economic and investment issues.

This year’s rise was the biggest gain in more than a decade of surveys, but the Chart of the Week shows how central banks still have much room to make progress toward greater parity in the ranks of top policymakers steering the global economy.

The tally adds to evidence of the struggle of women at central banks as well as in the economics discipline, where they remain underrepresented even after steady gains.

A first-of-its-kind IMF survey of the European Central Bank and its Group of Seven counterparts showed last year that fewer than half of employees at those institutions are women, but on average, only a third of women are economists or managers. The situation underscores how policies to eliminate gender gaps have been only partially successful.

ECB Executive Board member, Isabel Schnabel, has cited a substantial gender imbalance in economics, one that the institution is determined to change among its own staff.

Schnabel noted in a 2020 speech that the barriers aren’t insurmountable and that mentoring opportunities and ensuring childcare can help narrow gender imbalances.

The latest additions to the list of countries naming a woman as central bank chief came in January, when Jasmina Selimović began a six-year term in Bosnia and Herzegovina and Elizabeth Genia was appointed to the top job after serving as acting governor.

Last year, Michele Bullock became the first woman to lead the Reserve Bank of Australia.

Cambodia, Georgia, Moldova and Montenegro also appointed women as the heads of their monetary authorities last year, according to OMFIF’s 2024 gender balance index.

IMFBlog is a forum for the views of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) staff and officials on pressing economic and policy issues of the day.

Meanwhile, in Nigeria, the number of women leading major banks has increased in recent years.

Adaora Umeoji who is now the new Group Managing Director/CEO of Zenith Bank effective June 1, 2024, joins other seven female CEOs of major commercial banks in Nigeria.

Umeoji succeeds Ebenezer Onyeagwu, whose five-year tenure elapsed on May 31.

Before the announcement, two other females like Yetunde Oni, was appointed as the Managing Director/CEO of Union Bank of Nigeria in January.

And recently, Bolaji Agbede was appointed as acting group CEO of Access Holdings after the death of Herbert Wigwe.

A report by Agusto Consulting, a subsidiary of Agusto & Co, a pan-African credit rating agency said the share of women on boards surged to an all-time high in 2022.

It showed that the share of female board members has risen steadily in the past five years, hitting 25 percent from 18 percent in 2018. That compares with 36 percent in South Africa, 41 percent in the United Kingdom and 35 percent in the United States.

Chima Nwokoji