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South African women are making big strides in business. According to BizCommunity.com, the 2012 Grant Thornton International Business Report says that South African women hold 28 percent of the senior management positions in the country, higher than the global average of 21 percent.

The Grant Thornton International Business Report studies trends in private businesses in 40 economies around the world. Although South Africa’s trends are favorable for women and even reflect a one percent increase from the numbers last year, Jeaneete Hern, Grant Thornton’s corporate finance head in Johannesburg says South Africa can do better.

“We need more innovative solutions in order to make a significant dent in the number of women still excluded from senior management,” she tells BizCommunity.com. The research points out that South African women hold just eight percent of CEO positions and nine percent of COO jobs. In addition, women management roles seem to be limited to human resource or finance directors.  There’s also a lack of women in the private sector. Government jobs make up the majority of the gains in women employment with women representing 47 percent of the workforce.

Hern relays that only 39 percent of the women surveyed are afforded flexible work hours and alternative work locations on their jobs. She hopes businesses find more creative ways to accommodate working women.

Lesley Ann Foster, the executive director of Masimanyane Women’s Support Centre also hopes to see a growth in women business leaders in South Africa. “Women make up 53% of the population so they should at least take up 50% of leadership positions but this is not happening,” she told BizCommunity.com

Foster also stressed the importance of offering a more equal pay footing with men. “Women bring a lot of expertise and value to life,” she said. “If a woman works, the whole family and the community benefit. To be on par with men, women should receive decent work, decent pay.”