Clara Calou : “Women should be Independent and Assertive“

Clara Calou is the President of the AMFCE (Association Mauricienne des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprise), owner of a consultancy company named Positive Management Ltd, council member of the MCCI (Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry), and is a board member of other organisations.

She dedicates most of her time to social work and mentoring for women. The role model shares with us her views on the progress and future of the Mauritian women.

What are your aims as the President of the AMFCE?
To continue empowering women entrepreneurs in Mauritius and to promote the necessary contexts for their success. I believe that by encouraging women to stand on their feet, we definitely help to resolve several serious issues such as domestic violence, family problems, and so on.

I recently had a Pre-Budget meeting with the Prime Minister and at the level of the association, we presented a white paper addressing mainly the difficulties that women business owners face. I have highlighted two major factors; the first one being women business owners who go on maternity leave.

They have 14 weeks of maternity leave but who will pay them their salaries? Many have to get back to work only two weeks after giving birth. We have asked the Prime Minister to consider refunding these women (on maternity leave) who have paid National Pension Funds and other such contributions for a year.

The second factor is the lack of human resources in Mauritius. Regarding my work of providing quality management assistance to companies, I have noticed that there are many difficulties when it comes to recruitment of staff. We must not neglect the fact that women represent 52% of the population but many do not work due to various reasons.

I have thus demanded that the working hours for women should be reduced to five instead of eight hours (and paid for her five hours only) so that she has enough time to take care of her household and family. I am on the field and I witness lots of things.

It is impossible now for women to work from 7am to 7pm in a factory. We have also drafted a proposal for the opening of day-care centres and nurseries in working areas so that women may have some time to look after and most importantly, to feed their children.

How do you perceive the progress and achievements of the Mauritian women on the social, work and political levels?
Let me first address the education level. Free education has been hugely beneficial to women in our country. This has provided them with the opportunity to make tremendous progress at various levels and they have been empowered. She has become independent, especially financially independent, a major contributor for freedom.

On the political level, the government has shown a real interest to include women on various boards. However, many are reluctant to enter the political arena, as they still lack confidence. We do not bring up our girls to believe that they are capable and can succeed in whatever they wish to undertake.

This is why at the AMFCE, we act as role models so as to inspire other women in that they can also become successful entrepreneurs and we also have empowering programs.

There are more and more women who are launching themselves in entrepreneurship and becoming directors of their own company. What explains this unusual, daring development?
The AMFCE is connected to the FCEM (Femmes Chefs d’Entreprise Mondiale). We are over 160 countries around the world and we meet with the members twice yearly. Last year, we met in Italy with over seven hundred women business owners attending. It was a tremendous pleasure to see women around the globe who are being empowered and standing on their own feet.

In 2020, we will host one of these meetings in Mauritius. Much empowerment and encouragement are given to our women here in terms of entrepreneurship through organizations, for example SMEDA, SME Mauritius, NWEC, or WIN. There are lots of facilities and visibility given to them.

However, our women should come out of their comfort zones and divert from products that we see everywhere, like pickles or handicrafts. They must explore other horizons as we have so many opportunities nowadays.

How to support women who are not confident enough to launch themselves in entrepreneurship?
Training and mentoring of these women is crucial. It is very important to encourage them to acquire the necessary skills in order to lead their enterprises successfully. Many have unique products but do not have the knowledge of how to market their products, how to render their products visible, among other issues. Helping them to acquire IT skills is also vital for our 21st century world. They must develop a sense of diversification hard work and personal accomplishment.

Should we encourage more women to hold key posts in all sectors and also at political level and why?
Women have a different way of thinking when it comes to handling matters. Women are slowly but surely holding key positions in our different sectors. They now have more opportunities to thrive in their chosen fields. But, we must inquire where we are heading. We seriously need good and capable women role models in our country.

How do you perceive the Mauritian women’s future on the work/entrepreneur level?
The future of Mauritian women is opening up. They have the possibility to focus on their careers and there is less social pressure and less ‘dictatorship’ behaviour on our women. They also have more exposure to the global changes and mindsets are changing.

While they must have their own dreams and goals and work hard to achieve them, they need to contribute to nation building. Our women must thus stand strong in the face of adversity and not give up.

What advice do you have for the Mauritian women and the women entrepreneurs?
Our women need to break two glass ceilings. Firstly, every woman should believe in her own abilities. Secondly, there is the equal opportunity advocacy, which will make it easier for women to open their companies and have access to finance and other facilities available.