South Africa is a beautiful country with endless opportunities. It is the home of SAWIL (Southern African Women In Leadership), a Leadership Organisation established in 2014 with the sole objective of helping to transform and diversify the composition of leadership particularly in the private sector, concentrating mainly on a number of countries that from part of SADC. “The women of Africa make a sizeable contribution to the continent’s economy. They are more economically active as farmers and entrepreneurs than women in any other region of the world. It is the women who grow most of Africa’s food, and who own one-third of all businesses.” – AFDB Our job as SAWIL is to encourage, empower and position women and girls to take up their rightful place in the economy. Why Golf? Make no mistake about it, golf and business go hand in hand, and there are tons of reasons it is deemed so. Fact is, very few if any activities can replicate the power of golf to boost one’s career regardless of gender and many successful business people attest to this fact. What’s more; besides providing unmatched networking time with clients, prospects, and colleagues including the much-coveted access to senior management, the sport is not too physically demanding at least when compared with many other recreational games. If you’re not actively involved in recreational golf, you are missing out on a whole lot, and your company might be consistently losing out on crucial business opportunities when only a few female employees play golf. Sometimes, it’s the women… Unfortunately, the majority of women avoid the game, thereby missing out on the opportunity to build strong relationships that can help advance their careers. What these women fail to realize is that golfing is a terrific opportunity to build relationships with clients, prospective clients, and people within the company. Usually, the chances are that if you can hold even the most basic conversations about golf, almost all of a sudden you have a reason to talk to the CEO or your boss two or three levels above you on the course. In 2018, SAWIL embarked on a journey to introduce golf as a networking and empowerment tool for our members. We host regular golf lessons where our members are equipped to learn and familiarise themselves with the sport in a non-threatening environment while meeting and networking with like-minded leaders. In 2020, we will host the biggest ALL-WOMEN social golfing event AFRICA has ever seen under the International Women’s Golf Day brand. To partner with us, please email golf@sawil.co.za