RISING WOMAN 2025; Angela Mangecha: Leading the charge for gender equality at TCC PLC

Dar es Salaam. For the past 10 years, Angela Mangecha’s career journey has been evolving.

Joining the Tanzania Cigarette Public Limited Company (TCC Plc) as a Human Resource Business Partner (HRBP) in 2013, she rose through the ranks to become the Director of People and Culture.

She has 20 years of experience as an HR practitioner, a journey shaped by her parents who instilled in her the values of discipline, time management, and resourcefulness from an early age.

For the past 12 years at TCC, she has been proud of a number of initiatives she championed in promoting gender equality at the workplace through her company that values people first and promotes gender equality in the workplace.

Commenting on why it is important to have women in leadership roles in the workplace, she says research from several sources globally, such as the World Economic Forum, IMF studies, and other consulting, shows that when a firm has a diverse team, it becomes more productive, profitable, and more successful in a number of areas.

“We have been able to recruit so many female trainees over the years to build the female talent pool from the entry level. We have been able to build a nursing room to better support nursing mothers who are back from maternity leave,” says Angela.

She notes that her company has increased maternity and paternity leave days to 20 weeks for both because of the belief that women need their male partners to support them as they climb the career ladders.

“All these efforts to promote gender equality are possible through policies and programmes to invest more work to ensure we fast-track females up the career ladder,” she says.

As a global company, TCC has a Science, Technology, Engineering, and Mathematics (STEM) programme that nominates a female trainee to attend this programme.

Through the company’s talent management plan, the company has highlighted diverse candidates to provide an opportunity for female potentials available for recruitment opportunities in other JTI entities.

“We also have a key performance indicator to get to at least 30 percent females in top leadership positions in the company. At TCC, we are proud that we have three female directors out of 9 ExCom directors,” she says.

Angela explains that apart from the efforts to promote gender equality, TCC Plc is committed to giving back to communities through partnerships with social and cultural organisations.

“Our goal is to promote holistic and inclusive sustainable transformations in livelihoods. Over the years, we have supported women’s groups by providing entrepreneurship skills training and essential equipment to enhance their businesses.”

The equipment includes various items such as gas cylinders for clean cooking, beehives, egg-hatching machines, sewing machines, oil-pressing machines, and honey-extraction machines.

“As a company, we believe that our productivity and success are intertwined with the success of the communities around us. Therefore, we allocate a budget to fulfil our responsibility as a company to care for not only women but also other members of our community by empowering them to earn a living,” she says.

In her leadership journey, she believes that leadership is preferred, but she insists it needs different leadership styles to get everything done depending on a given situation.

She prefers transformational leadership to give everyone the benefit of the doubt in the beginning and to motivate all to excel.

When one does not show the potential or results, then there is room to support them to do their part as well by giving them opportunities just like how current leaders were given these opportunities to excel.

She further says that using resources well with simple examples like respecting her time and that of others, using resources/finances smartly to help support company growth, and definitely, work and personal ethics are the guiding principles she can never compromise.

“We are all stewards of resources and, hence, have a responsibility to use them correctly for the benefit of many, not just a few. I believe in the saying that you should do the right thing even when no one is watching,” says Angela.

Advising women who feel stuck in their career journey, she is of the view that it is important for women to ask themselves if they are at the places where God wants them to be and living the Godly, purpose-filled lives?

“Because chances are, if not, then no wonder you feel stuck or not sure what to do. I genuinely believe we all have a purpose here on earth, and we need to connect to that purpose to be fulfilled,” said Angela.

This is what she always tells her team, ‘If you’re not happy coming to the office or doing your job, you need to find out why.’

She notes that since human beings spend about 70 percent of our lives working, it is important to have meaning and value.

“We leave our loved ones to earn a living to support them, so we must be able to use our time effectively. We need to always do self-reflecting exercises to see what has changed,” she says.

It is important to ask yourself these questions,” she advises

“Why don’t you feel like you are growing? What do you want to do now? What is crucial in my life right now? Can I afford to leave my job and do business? Do I know how to do business? Do I need to change my career?”

The reality of this is that no matter how many people you talk to, the answer lies within you. Only when you are clear about what you want to do or have an idea can the right people guide you accordingly, she says.

Supported by Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation