McDonald’s SA celebrates women empowerment at the 2023 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit in South Africa

“If the outside world is changing faster than your own organisation, you’ll soon be irrelevant.”

– Greg Solomon, CEO of McDonald’s South Africa

A core principle of the McDonald’s South Africa brand is empowering women across the board, and with its support of the 8th FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit, the company has further entrenched itself as an equity powerhouse. After a two-year run as a virtual summit on account of the Covid-19 pandemic, the summit returned as a live in-person event at SunBet Arena, Time Square in Pretoria, South Africa on 8 March 2023 (International Women’s Day), and was proudly presented by McDonald’s.

“At McDonald’s South Africa, we pride ourselves on growth in numbers when it comes to women’s representation within the organisation. Out of the staff complement, 61% of our staff are women, 40% of which are in leadership positions, 64% of our Restaurant Managers are women and, 25% of our Owner Operators are women,” explained Greg Solomon, CEO of McDonald’s South Africa. “The return of investment on having diversity, equity and inclusion … to have different waves of thoughts, and different cultures, the innovation is amazing – and that’s what makes us so powerful.”

In addition to its support of the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit this year, McDonald’s SA has its own platform called The Women in Conversation, an engagement led by McDonald’s South Africa’s Women’s Leadership Network. Here, women from various spheres gather to tackle a range of subjects while inspiring and encouraging others to share their voices.

“We are so grateful for the support of McDonald’s SA, a company that is truly showing its commitment to inclusivity and equity for all women,” explained Roberta Naicker, Managing Director, ABN Group. “Having them on board at the 2023 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit extended the platform of our impactful speakers and ensured that even more women were inspired by the discussions, ideas, and ground-breaking insights centred on this year’s theme, Women 3.0: The Icons and Ideas Shaping Africa.”

The 2023 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit was presented by McDonald’s SA, in association with The Macallan and supported by Coca-Cola, Access Bank, Avon, Lucara Diamonds Botswana and The ROOM, in partnership with CNBC Africa, Jacaranda FM, and KIA South Africa. The summit  featured more than 50 world-class speakers from across the continent and beyond. Following the summit,  the prestigious 2023 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Awards ceremony on the same day celebrated Africa’s accomplished female leaders and luminaries who were honoured for their impactful work.

If you were unable to attend this year, please follow us on social media @LWSummit, #LWS2023 for event highlights and news. You can also come on board as an event sponsor or activation sponsor in 2024.

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