South Africa, July 6 -- I run a communications agency serving financial services clients across investment, banking, and business advisory firms, and I see what those numbers mean in practice: an industry that recruits and develops women in depth, then loses their leadership before it reaches the level where it shapes the business. In a sector built on trust and judgment, that loss shows up in performance.

Why current approaches fail

Just Share's 2025 governance briefing tells the story precisely: women hold 38% of JSE Top 40 board seats but only 27.4% of executive roles, and transformation remains concentrated at board level with little structural progress in management pipelines. Stellenbosch Business School's 2025 Women's Report desc...