Perceptions & Aussie Shuffles
Happy Easter
Welcome to The Chief Brief.
Every Sunday, I spotlight global, diverse, and innovative female leaders, and the news influencing them to change the world. The Brief curates and breaks down stories from across the globe, and helps you connect with the women making news! It is my first step in a passion project to build a globally connected community of women leaders.
Wishing you sunshine, a basket full of chocolate and new beginnings on this beautiful Easter Sunday!
Let’s talk about
China’s perception problem
China’s government has been a busy bee when it comes to pushing its vaccine diplomacy. Understandable, considering the world is still waiting for transparency and answers about the origins of the Covid pandemic. The WHO report didn’t really get us very far. But in the poorest countries that have been the hardest hit, China’s vaccine red carpet has been rolled out with pomp and circumstance. The trust factor is buoyed by making a woman the face of it too.
Vaccine diplomacy alone though hasn’t been enough to plaster over accusations of human rights violations, and outright bullying. But it does make you wonder who is handling China’s global PR? And what is the messaging they want to get across? Global leader or bully? They really can’t seem to decide.
Helena Helmersson's been H&M’s CEO for 14 months, and its head of sustainability fsince 2010. She’s had a year that even the most experienced CEOs would shudder to face. The company’s public stance on material sourcing from Xinjiang, (where China’s Uyghur “re-training camps” are based) resulted in a backlash worthy of the biggest bully. The Communist party put out a public call for Chinese citizens to boycott the brand. They did. Combine that with the heavy toll of the pandemic, and H&M’s first quarter sales were down 21%. China’s regulators have now ‘summoned’ H&M to explain a “problematic map” on its website, which they claim endangers national sovereignty. Sound like a bullying tactic?
The Uyghur issue clearly hits a sore spot for the Chinese government. And tactics to silence individual women coming forward about rape in camps in Xinjiang are getting creepier and more aggressive too. It ranges from policemen and government officials calling victims or witnesses (who have left the country) from relatives’ phones in China, to being publicly smeared in press conferences and state media, hacking attempts on their phones, to a barrage of messages. All Uyghur activists have also reported detention or harassment of family members back in China.
Then there is the U.S.-China battle for power. The U.K. chose its side a while ago (though it does keep hoping China won’t let relations sour more).
But for a long time the Chinese government walked a careful, if tenuous line with the EU. They kept up talks about privacy, tech, 5G amongst a gamut of other issues. They didn’t want battle lines to be that clearly drawn in favour of the U.S. That’s in the past too. Only three months after Ursula von der Leyen, Angela Merkel, and Emmanuel Macron signed a landmark economic treaty with China’s Xi Jinping, the fuzzy warm feelings have dissipated.
The Uyghur stand-off has led to tit for tat sanctions which are now par for the course. The Chinese government is skipping over Brussels for bi-lateral relations with the EU’s more problematic members, like Hungary and Greece. Beijing is openly calling for a boycott of all European brands (companies like Zara’s parent Inditex are trying the ‘placate to do business’ card, pulling slavery statements from their websites). And most recently, Chinese officials have taken to twitter to angrily tweet public comments about Europe’s own human rights record during colonial times.
And then there is the fantastical sounding ‘Pineapple wars’ with Taiwan and its President Tsai Ing-wen. China banned Taiwan’s pineapples, the latest in a string of punitive measures against the country. And it is seemingly dragging neighbouring countries into the pineapple wars too. Singapore’s supermarket chain NTUC FairPrice even pulled the fruit of its shelves saying “consumers had complained of core rot in the fruit.”
Take the above, and add to it the bad PR of high cost loans to poor countries (The World Bank estimates that in 2019 China accounted for 63% of the bilateral debt owed by the poorest countries to members of G20), escalating fights about territorial waters, a continued crackdown on democracy in Hong Kong (thanks to Carrie Lam), and an aggressive border stand-off with India. The big picture you end up with does make you wonder: who ever thought that vaccine diplomacy alone was going to solve the perception problem Xi Jinping has on his hands?
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Policy matters
The Aussie shuffle
It’s been crisis after crisis for Scott Morrison’s government in Australia. And every crisis seems to be about how his MPs approach women and their issues. This week, Australia’s PM offered an olive branch to critics. A cabinet reshuffle and a new task force for women to deal with equality, safety and economic well being.
Morrison has promised to restore the number of women in cabinet to seven out of twenty three. And the Taskforce will be headed by the PM himself, along with the minister for women Marise Payne. It will even include all the government’s female ministers. But Morrison’s grand gesture may just be that according to critics. Under-fire cabinet members Christian Porter (accused of a historical rape allegation) and Linda Reynolds (accused of handling the rape of her staffer terribly -She called the victim, Brittany Higgins a “lying cow.”) are not out, despite calls for them to be dumped. Read more here.
Digital tax talks
This week, U.S. has said it’s going to maintain the threat of tariffs (25%) against six countries (Austria, U.K., India, Italy, Spain and Turkey) over digital taxes. Over the past few weeks the EU has said it’s going to go ahead with its unilateral digital tax levy, even if it doesn’t reach a deal with the U.S.
But even as threats fly across the Atlantic, the silver lining is that dialogue hasn’t broken down. U.S. Trade Representative Katherine Tai and the European Commission’s Executive Vice President Margrethe Vestager are still catching up. And they’re still asking each other ‘How do you solve a problem like digital tax.’ Read more here.
Non! to virginity tests
Want to test a young woman’s virginity before she gets married? Well you better not try it in France. The French parliament has passed the so-called 'Separatism Law', banning tests to prove a bride's virginity before marriage. The law is aimed at sections of France's large Muslim population, but also outlaws the traditions of some Gypsy communities. A TV show just got in trouble with France’s Citizenship minister Marlène Schiappa for showing it. Read more here.
Business not as usual
Mining by women
Hold the presses. One African miner just became an all-female led one! Beryl Group is a Pan-African diversified investment company with stakes in logistics and rail, coal, and financial services. It’s coal arm ‘Beryl Coal’ is majority black female owned and it just bought a 100% stake in South African miner Eyethu Coal. Read more here.
Luxury’s sustainability
Walpole, the trade body representing British luxury companies has published its first sustainability report. Helen Brocklebank, CEO of Walpole brought together members to share knowledge and expertise. These members come from companies like Mulberry, Burberry, Dunhill, Harrods and others. Topics the report covers include sustainable packaging, operational waste reduction, circularity among others. You can order the report here.
Major plot twist
Catherine Woods’ Ark Innovation Fund is the hottest investment ticket around, but it has had a pretty rough March. Seen as a disrupter in investing circles one market watcher says: be cautious. Morningstar’s Robbie Greengold says the fund’s management team is “inexperienced” with “lax risk controls” making it ill prepared for a market that seems to be readying itself for a major plot twist. Read more here.
Tech stuff
Nubanking for Brazil’s black entrepreneurs
Brazil’s largest fin-tech and fourth largest bank Nubank has launched a seed fund dedicated to supporting Brazilian black entrepreneurs. This is one of multiple diversity initiatives being pushed by co-founder Cristina Junqueira. Called the ‘Semente Preta’ (black seed in Portuguese), the fund will allocate 1 million reais ($173,000) to Brazilian startups led by black entrepreneurs. Read more here.
A few weeks ago, Nubank also announced it plans to hire 3,300 women. This in order to reach its goal of having half its leadership positions be filled by women in less than five years. Right now women make up 41% of Nubank employees and 39% of its management positions. Read more here.
Siri Bias
Tired of your Siri assistant defaulting to a woman’s voice? Think it is a bit Neanderthal to expect an assistant to be a woman, and having to actually choose the male option instead?
Well, Apple’s finally heard you. The company is adding two new voices to Siri’s English offerings, eliminating the default to a woman’s voice. That means every person who sets up Siri can choose a voice themselves. The program is in Beta and should be rolled out to everyone if it works. Read more here.
CEE’s female founders
European tech raised a record amount of funding in 2020. The facts around the funding gap between men and women are well known, and obvious. What’s shocking is that according to a report by European Women in VC, in 2020 all-female founding teams in Central and Eastern Europe saw their funding drop dramatically to 1%, from 4.1% in 2018. 5% went to mixed-gender founding teams, while all-men teams raised 94%. Read the report here.
On the move
In the U.K.
Diana Brightmore-Armour has been appointed CEO of the U.K.’s oldest bank C Hoare & Co. Her appointment is awaiting regulatory approval, which once given will make her the first female CEO in the bank’s 350 year history. Diana sits on a number of FTSE100 boards and was previously CEO at ANZ and Lloyds bank.
Åsa Norrie is the new regional chief executive officer and head of distribution for Principal Global Investors (USD544.9 billion AUM). She was previously head of global strategic alliances at Aberdeen Standard Investments.
Sophie Kennedy has been appointed as one of three CEO’s to lead EQ Investors with the firm’s founder John Spier’s retiring. Sophie will run the wealth management firm’s investment management business as joint CEO.
In India
Subha Tatavarti has been appointed Chief Technology Officer of Indian tech major Wipro Ltd. Subha was previously the head of retail giant Walmart’s product, technology development and commercialisation.
In Bangladesh
Humaira Azam is set to become the first female Managing Director and CEO of a private bank in Bangladesh. Her appointment by Bangladesh Army backed Trust Bank, is now pending approval of the Bangladesh central bank.
In Nigeria
Osagie Osarenz is the new Country Manager of Music distributor ONErpm in Nigeria. The company recently announced expanding operations into the country.
Caught my eye
Mistress of Science
A small group of women are waging an online battle in South Africa against mis-information about Covid-19 and vaccinations. One of them even uses the alias ‘Mistress of Science,’ spending hours online debunking myths for Covid deniers. Read more here.
Ka-Ching
Ever been curious how much Big Tech makes every single minute? From Apple, Amazon to Tesla, here is a visual calculator to help you understand the magnitude of money involved.
Swiss army underwear?
The Swiss army has been only issuing men’s underwear to its personnel (regardless of their gender or preference). It is now going to issue female recruits women’s underwear in the hopes it will boost recruitment(?). Read more here.
Breaking biking barriers
There are 4 known female moto taxi (bike taxi) drivers in Kigali out of 20,000. It has been a journey of defying expectations, brushing off insults and misogyny on Rwanda’s roads for them. One woman driver describing her journey says, "Your limitation... It is only your imagination." Read more here.
Be a sport
Six Nations Championship
The 2021 Women’s Six Nations Championship is on ,and boy is the Rugby getting exciting. England beat Scotland 52-10 in their bid to hold on to the cup. The Wales Vs France game got a bit hairy with a French player’s hair literally getting tangled in a Welsh player’s cap. The French though won 53-0. Catch the play, and results as they happen here.
Welcome to Miami
The Miami Open women’s final was an anti-climactic one for tennis fans. Australia’s Ash Barty defended her title and status as world No. 1, but the match never really finished with her Canadian competitor Bianca Andreescu forced to retire from the match with a sprained ankle. The match ended 6-3 4-0. Read more here.
Another shock move during the Open this week was Naomi Osaka’s defeat during the quarter finals at the hands Maria Sakkari. The Japanese player’s record of being unbeaten in 23 matches since February 2020, was broken by the Greek player in a 6-0 6-4 victory. Read more here.
Arty Entertainment
Women of Marvel
A new giant size special celebrating Marvel’s female heroes is releasing this month. Women of Marvel #1 will be an issue that every comic book collector is going to want. It will spotlight iconic characters from across the Marvel universe. From the X-Men to the Avengers. The book will also feature some of the hottest rising female stars in the graphic novel industry. Get your hands on a copy. It’s going to be worth its weight in gold. Read more here.
The pit’s a scary place
Concert photographers aren’t given enough credit for their contribution to the music industry. But female concert photographers have to deal with more than being just invisible. To get a music icon’s award winning snap, they have to deal with being groped by fans, face sexism in the industry, and deal with it as freelancers with not much protection. Read more here.
Must Watch
Looking for something to watch this Easter Sunday? Netflix just released the movie ‘Madame Claude.’ Based on a true story of Fernande Grudet, the movie tells the story of the french brothel keeper who seemingly had power over France’s political and criminal circles in the 1960s.
“I still believe in Santa, the Easter Bunny, the Tooth Fairy and true love. Don’t even try to tell me different.” - Dolly Parton
~Happy Easter 🐰 to you and your family, from The Chief Brief~