Allon Raiz addresses the International Women’s Forum for the Economy and Society in Deauville, France

Allon Raiz, CEO of Raizcorp, was an invited member of the African delegation that attended the 8^th Edition of the Women's Forum Global Meeting held on 10-12 October 2012 in Deauville (France), with the theme “Wanted: 360° growth”. This was the first time that a major delegation from the African continent attended the Forum.

Founded in 2005, the Women's Forum for the Economy and Society is the world's leading forum looking at major social and economic issues from women's perspectives. It promotes the empowerment of women world‐wide, as well as the networks of collaboration that enable women's voices to be heard with clarity and force.

According to the Women’s Forum, the African delegation was composed of 40 leading, visionary and remarkable women and men, from business, politics, sciences, social entrepreneurship, academia, the arts, media and philanthropy. The delegation represented this year’s special focus on Africa in the main programme.

The only man in the African delegation, Allon Raiz participated in a high-level panel discussion on how Africa can create more high growth entrepreneurs. Raiz indicated that attending the Forum has led him to a new understanding of the challenges women face in the workplace, whether as entrepreneurs or employees.

He said, “I thought I understood how the fight for equality in the workplace was progressing and the issues that underlie it. However, research presented at the Forum suggests that approximately 40% of women would prefer not to be promoted to C-suite level. This leads to interesting questions around why women don’t want these roles and whether there may be other ways of contributing at that corporate level.”

“This is a particularly important challenge to consider when other research indicates a strong positive impact on the bottom line when company boards reflect gender and cultural diversity.”

A range of debates on economic growth and gender issues in Africa included discussions among more than forty men and women from countries ranging from Ethiopia to South Africa. Discussions focused on models to sustain economic growth in Africa, which is forecast to reach 5% in 2012; the use of new technologies among African women; and gender stereotypes across the African continent.

Summaries and webcasts of key debates from the 2012 Global Meeting can be found at the website www.womens‐forum.com.