110 OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN AFRICA 2022| THE NEW AFRICA MAGAZINE

THE NEW AFRICA MAGAZINE 

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There’s no gainsaying we’re 

in ‘Men’s World’. This assertion 

becomes more glaring when you 

consider how almost everything 

is tilted to favour the male folk 

more than the female gender. 

This issue’s more pronounced 

in Africa, a country richly 

endowned, but very unlucky with 

the choice of leaders that have 

managed her resources thus 

far. 

Nonetheless, countless number 

of women have broken the jinx 

and barriers; smashing old 

records and setting new ones, 

setting the pace and calling the 

shots. 

These group of extraordinary 

FROM 

PUBLISHERS 

DESK 

Gift Chidinma Nnamoko 

Orairu. 

women are source of motivation 

and inspiration to other women 

and younger girls; and thus, are 

worth being celebrated. 

In this SPECIAL Amazon Women’s 

Edition of our magazine, 

we carefully selected 50 

outstanding women who have 

excelled in their different fields of 

endeavors. 

Their challenges, determination 

and success will move you and 

rekindle in your heart, the fire of 

hard work, determination and 

persistence; while imprinting 

in your soul, a firm belief that 

nothing’s impossible. 

HAPPY READING.. 

Editorial Team 

SENIOR EDITORS 

Karima Rhanem 

Sunny Ojeme 

Mrs Osevwe Enoh Sampson 

SUPERVISING EDITOR 

Bishop solomon jacobs 

EDITORS 

Orji Ikechukwu 

ADMINISTRATIVE 

EDITOR 

Alfred Olaiya 

CONTRIBUTION EDITOR 

Darlington Osigwe 

Odunayo Akinsioye 

Francis Jojo Antwi 

Blessing Ehiwario Samuel 

PROOF READERS 

Victoria Igboabuchi 

IT 

Ozom Ekuma 

Rejoice 

GRAPHIC DESIGNER 

Gideonworkx 

WEBSITE MANAGER 

Gideonworkx 

CONSULTANTS 

Dr. Fati Ibrahim 

Dr. Eno Praise 

Dr. Toni Olumide 

LEGAL 

Barrister Vincent Tortsugh 

Osevwe Enoh Sampson 

PUBLISHER/EDITOR-IN- 

CHIEF 

Gift Chidinma Nnamoko 

Orairu. 

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EDITORS NOTE 

Karima Rhanem 

Senior Managing Editor 

The New Africa Magazine has always been a strong believer of the culture of 

recognition for both men and women who have, are and will shape the vision and 

progress of the African continent. 

This edition is special because it highlights effective women leadership at 

different levels and sectors: women who demonstrated exceptional courage and 

leadership in their mission to protect the environment and defend Human Rights 

and advocate to change the narratives about the continent through politics, Arts 

and Culture, development and economic partnership, civil society and diplomacy. 

These women have and are breaking the silence about major controversial 

societal questions, and have always been on the frontlines in all crisis times along 

with their male counterparts. 

Throughout history, Pan African women have never been silent, and have led 

important revolutions for democracy, freedom and social justice. However, 

millions of women in the continent have been silenced with violence, with hate, 

discrimination, and isolation. These courageous women stood against all forms 

of discrimination and violence against women, advocacy for gender equality, 

developed legislation protecting women’s rights, initiated programs for their 

economic empowerment and advocated for their political participation and their 

integration in senior level positions. They have also managed to mobilize He4She 

counterparts to lead change of perceptions and embrace the culture of equality 

and parity in society and institutions. 

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These awards could only lift up the voices of women around the world. The New 

Africa Magazine is happy to tell their stories because they can inspire our world to 

rise to their courage. We are recognizing the leadership, courage and the power 

they hold


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THE NEW AFRICA 

MAGAZINE CELEBRATES 110 

OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN 

AFRICA FOR THE YEAR 2022 

A 

strong believer of the culture of 

recognition for both men and 

women who have, are and will 

shape the vision and progress of the 

African continent, The New Africa Magazine 

has released its list of 110 Outstanding 

Women in Africa for the year 2022. 

The New Africa Magazine selected women 

who demonstrated exceptional courage 

and leadership in their mission to protect 

the environment and defend Human Rights 

and advocate to change the narratives 

about the continent through politics, Arts 

and Culture, development and economic 

partnership, civil society and diplomacy. 

In Africa, one needs extra hard work, 

dedication and focus to succeed. In 

addition to the so many factors affecting 

women progress in the continent at the 

political and socio-economic level; a great 

number of women have been silenced with 

violence, hate, discrimination, and isolation. 

However, these Pan African women have 

never been silent, and have led important 

revolutions for democracy, freedom and 

social justice. They have gone on to write 

their names on the sands of time; breaking 

old records and setting new standards, 

smashing barriers and detecting the pace. 

These are women who believe that gender 

was not, is not, and can never be a barrier 

to success. They have and are breaking the 

silence about major controversial societal 

questions, and have always been on the 

frontlines in all crisis times along with their 

male counterparts. 

They are role models to the younger 

generation of men and women and deserve 

to be acknowledged and celebrated. The 

New Africa Magazine is happy to tell their 

stories because they can inspire our world 

to rise to their courage. 

The Amazon editions of The New African 

Magazine identify these women icons and 

prides of Africa, profile them and celebrate 

their leadership, courage and the power 

they hold. The 110 women featured on The 

New Africa Magazine October edition of 

the Amazon Women are women who will 

inspire you by their stories and will motivate 

you by their humility. 

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1 Hon. Jewel Howard Taylor; Vice President Of 

Liberia 

2) Hon. Amina J. Mohammed, Deputy Secretary- 

General Of The United Nations 

3) Hon. Jamila Sedqi; First Moroccan Female Judge 

At The Un Administrative Tribunal 

4) Senator Biodun Christine Olujimi 1st Vice 

President/Ecofepa 

5) Amb. Karima Rhanem; President, Int’l Centre For 

Diplomacy 

6) Hon. Fatima Samoura; Secretary General, Fifa 

7) Hon. Louise Mushikiwaa; Sec. Gen., Int’l 

Organization Of The La Francophone 

8) Ms. Sara Menker; Ceo, Gro Intelligence 

9) Ms. Chimamanda Adichie; Renowned Novelist 

10) Ms. Dodo Uvieghara; Fashion Influencer 

11) Ms. Catherine Lesetedi; Ceo, Botswana 

Insurance Holdings Ltd 

12) Ms. Sethebe Manake; Founder, Gosmartvalue 

13) Dr. Nanees Adel; Managing Director, Cairo 

Specialist Hospital 

14) Ms. Anne Juuko; Md/ Ceo, Stanbic Bank, 

Uganda 

15) Ms. Jihan Abass; Founder & Ceo, Lami Insurance 

Technology 

16) Ms. Nneka Onyeali Ikpe; 1st Md/Ceo, Fidelity 

Bank 

17) Ms. Thato Schermer; Founder, Zoie Health 

18. Ms. Desire Oparanozie; Athlete 

19) Ms. Asmae Boureddaya; A Young Diplomat With 

Special Engagement In African Affairs 

20) Ms. Graca Machel; Women & Children’s Rights 

Activist 

21) Ms. Winnie Byanyima; Executive Director, Oxfam 

22) Hon. Nouzha Bouchareb, Former Minister 

Of Housing & Urban Policy, President Of 

Connectingroup Int’l 

23) Ms. Alice Banze; Executive Director, Gender & 

Sustainable Dev. Association Of Un 

24) Senator Daisy Danjuma, Senator Of The Federal 

Republic Of Nigeria 

25) Ms. Martha Karua; Female Legislature 

26) Ms. Aya Chebbi; Former Au Youth Envoy & 

Activist 

27) Hon. Joyce Hilda Banda; Fmr. President Of 

Malawi 

28) Hon. Meryem Ouhssata; Young Leader Of Pan- 

African Parliamentary Diplomacy 

29) Ms. Dinma Umeh; Fashion Enthusiast/Makeup 

Content Creator 

30) Hon. Aicha Duihi; Activist & President, Int’l 

Observatory For Peace, Democracy & Human 

Rights In Geneva 

31) Ms. Faith Kipyegon; Sprinter 

32) Hon. Saara Kuugongelwa Ahmadhila; Prime 

Minister Of Namibia 

33) Senator Fanny Chantal Moussokoura- 

Secretary General Ecofepa And Vice President Of 

The Ivorian Senate 

34) Ms. Arc. Ezinne.c.okoro Enterpreneur And 

Business Operations Executive. Ceo, Charez Foods. 

35) Dr. Adelaide Retselisitsoe Matlanyane; Head, 

Central Bank Of Lesotho 

36) Hon. Aja Fatoumata Jallow- Tambajang; 

Human Rights Activist & Former Vice President Of 

Gambia 

37) Ms. Asisat Oshoala; Footballer 

38) Ms. Angelina Kidjo; Famous Musician 

39) Ms. Winifred Nwania; Health Coach In Training 

& Cooking Show Host 

40) Juliet Ibrahim, Actress, Ghana 

41) Ms. Mansa Netty, Chief Executive, Standadrd 

Chattered Bank, Ghana 

42) Ms. Tomike Adeoye; Media Personality, Tv Host 

And Actress 

43) Pastor Faith Oyedepo; Wife Of The Founder, 

Winners’ Church, Worldwide 

44) Ms. Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma; Apartheid 

Activist 

45) Ms. Alengot Oromait; Young Politician & 

Activist 

46) Ms. Helena Conradie, Ceo, Satrix 40, South 

Africa 

47) Ms. Ojo Oluwa Busola; Lawyer And Minister Of 

God 

48) Ms. Mbali-Ntuli; Young Activist & Politician 

49) Ms. Ayra Starr; Musician 

50) Ms. Tiwa Savage; Musician 

51) Ms. Tobi Amusan; Athlete 

52) Ms. Odunayo Ewenyi; Cofounder, Piggyvest 

53) Hon Filomena Gonçalves, Minister Of Health 

Cape Verde 

54) Amb. Hajo Sani; Educationist, Policy Analyst 

And Permanent Delegation Of Nigeria To Unesco 

55) Dr. Anne Mary Nash Haruna. Bellevue College 

56) Prof. Yemi Olatunji Bello; 9th Vice Chancellor Of 

Lagos State University 

57) Hon. Hannah Tetteh; Lawyer & Former Foreign 

Affairs Minister Of Ghana 

58) Rt. Hon. Winnie Kiiza; Fmr. Leader Of Opposition, 

Parliament Of Uganda 

59) Jane Karuku Ane, Managing Director And Chief 

Executive Officer Of The East African Breweries 

Limited 

60) Ms. Arunma Oteh; Fmr. Treasurer, World Bank 

61) Ms. Vivien Waziri Kwande; Ceo, Life Aid Initiative 

Int’l 

62) Ms. Hon. Woraye Sarr; President, Ecofepa 

63) Juliet Ehimuan, Technology Expert 

64) Ms. Rebecca Ebokpo, Senior Associate, Aelex 

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Partners 

65) Hon. Laadi Ayi Ayamba; Chairperson, 

Committee On Gender, Social Affairs And Women 

Empowerment 

66) Amb. Dr. Bola Preys Ayo; Ceo, Trillion Global 

Presidential Consulting 

67) Ms. Ruth Zaipuna; Ceo, Nmb Bank, Tanzania 

68) Ms. Temilade Openiyi; Singer And Songwriter 

69) Ms. Yemi Alade; Musician 

70) Ms. Janine Van Wyk; Athlete 

71) Ms. Tonto Dike; Renowned Actress & Politician 

72) Hon Sahle Work Zewde, First Female African 

Head Of State 

73) Ms. Leila Fourie; Ceo, Jse, South Africa 

74) Hon. Adjaratou Coulibaly Traoré; Head Of 

Delegation, Ivorian Mps To The Ecowas Parliament 

75) Ms. Aminetou Bilal; Youth Activist & President, 

Movement Of Patriots In Action 

76) Ms. Dorothy Nkhoma Shonga; Director, 

Palmontt Sa, Malawi & Mozambique 

77) Ms. Oyinlola Bukky Akande, Life Coach, Speaker, 

Author And Publisher 

78) Ms. Hafsat Abiola; President, Women In Africa 

Initiative 

79) Dr. Frannie Léautier; Snr. Partner & Ceo, 

Southbridge Investments 

80) Hon. Veronica Kadie Sesay, Member Of The 

Parliament In Sierra Leone 

81) Ms. Onyeka Onwenu; Politician, Singer & Actress 

82) Ms. Abike Dabiri Erewa; Politician 

83 Mrs Ndudi Chuku, Exective Director Mission 

Africa 

84) Hon. Sophia Abdi Noor; Politician & Female 

Rights Activist 

85) Ms. Folarunsho Alakija; Philanthropist & 

Founder, Famfa Oil & Gas 

86) Ms. Oby Ezekwesili; Economist And Politician 

87) Prof. Yemi Adenike Kuku V.c Kings University 

88) Ms. Dolapo Osinbajo; Wife Of The Vice President 

Of Nigeria 

89) Ms. Funke Akindele; Actress, Producer And 

Politician 

90) Ms. Stella Okoli; Founder, Emzor Pharmaceutical 

91) Ms. M.o. Abudu; Entertainment Guru 

92) Ms. Teniola Apata; Singer And Songwriter 

93) Ms. Fifi Ejindu; Leading Female Entrepreneur, 

Nigeria 

94) Ms. Remi Tinubu; Politician 

95) Ms. Ejiro Osadeke; Author, Singer & Convener, 

The Becoming Summit 

96) Hajia Rabi Saulawa; President, Jam’iyyar 

Matan Arewa 

97) Ms. Sho Madjozi; Singer And Songwriter 

98) Ms. Ireti Blankson; Health Travel Clinic, Uk 

99) Ms. Ngozi Okonjo Iweala; Director General, 

World Trade Organization 

100) Sen. Stella Odua; Politician And Entrepreneur 

101) Hon. Joice Mujuru; Activist & Former Vice 

President Of Zimbabwe 

102) Ms. Diane Shima Rwigara; Women’s Right 

Activist 

103 Ms. Yvonne Ike; Managing Director, Sub- 

Saharan Africa, Bank Of America, Nigeria 

104) Ms. Diane Karusisi, Ceo, Bk Group Plc, Rwanda 

105) Ms. Fehintoluwa Ademola-Adetuberu; 

Seasoned Speaker And Transformational Global 

Leader 

106) Sen. Amb. Hezena Lemaletian; Global Peace 

Ambassador 

107) Amb. Adeshola Helen Onadipe; Founder/ 

Publisher, Ladies In Business Magazine 

108)Ms. Mercy Chinwo; Singer & Song Writer 

109) Ms. Omotola Jalade Ekeinde; Actress And 

Producer 

110) Hajia Lami Adamu Lau; President, Ncws, Nigeria 

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OJO 

OLUWA 

BUSOLA 

Ojo Oluwabusola is a 

Professional Lawyer 

Per Excellence and 

a minister of God 

ordained into Ministry in August 

2005. 

Ojo Oluwabusola is also a 

Certified Professional Manager in 

Nigeria and an Astute Arbitrator 

who works in the Oil and Gas 

sector in the country. She also 

holds a Master degree in Law 

from University of East London. 

she is a passionate lover of God, 

who enjoys her deep fellowship 

with God. A woman of faith 

and virtue who operates in the 

prophetic with signs following. 

She devotes herself to God’s 

work in a lot of ways which 

includes her regular meeting 

“Woman and Her God” that 

draws women from far and 

near. She is a worshipper and an 

intercessor. 

Pastor Busola is an inspiring 

Speaker and the author of 

the book “Your Decision Your 

Destiny”. A lover of truth 

endowed with beauty and brain. 

She lives in Abuja and she is 

happily married to her husband 

Pastor Olufemi Ojo and they are 

blessed with Triplets ( 2Boys and 

a Girl). 

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HON NOUZHA 

BOUCHAREB,FORMER 

MOROCCAN MINISTER OF 

HOUSING, PRESIDENT OF 

CONNECTINGROUP INT’L 

By Karima Rhanem, Senior Managing Editor, North Africa 

Hon. Nouzha Bouchareb, former 

Minister of National Land & Urban 

Planning, Housing and City Policy, 

and president of the ConnectinGroup 

Int, has always believed that a real 

spatial planning policy based on a 

forward-looking vision is capable 

of supporting territories in their 

sustainable development. A great 

believer in south south cooperation, 

she has called on a number of 

occasions for strengthen innovative 

cooperation for resilience and 

sustainable development in Africa. 

During her mandate (October 

9, 2019 to October 07, 2021), she 

spared no efforts so that the 

National Urban Framework Scheme, 

which structures and strengthens 

the national urban framework, 

works to guarantee territorial equity 

and reduce spatial disparities, 

thus ensuring an inclusive and 

integrated development of cities by 

improving access to public services 

and facilities and offering a decent 

living environment for all. 

Thus, efforts made by her ministry 

have made it possible to set up a 

new way of planning and designing 

public space ensuring a safe and 

adapted living environment for the 

population, able to satisfy the needs 

and expectations of citizens in their 

diversity through the concerted 

programming of the components of 

this space. 

A member of the political bureau 

of the Popular Movement Party, 

Mrs. Bouchareb is known for her 

commitment to women’s rights, and 

is chairing the women’s organization 

within her party. She is also President 

of the Women’s Network Connecting 

Group International, which aims at 

promoting women’s rights and their 

empowerment to hold high level 

senior positions. 

Expert consultant in the field of 

Sustainable Development, the Fight 

against Pollution, the Management 

and Development of Water 

Resources and Climate Change, with 

several International Institutions and 

NGOs, Mrs. Nouzha BOUCHAREB held 

the position of General Manager of 

a group of companies specializing 

in Consulting and Engineering. 

Mrs. Nouzha BOUCHAREB holds 

a PhD in Environment and 

Territorial Development from the 

Mohammedia School of Engineers. 

She is also a graduate from the 

Higher Institute of Commerce and 

Business Administration. 

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MERYEM OUHSSATA, YOUNG 

LEADER OF PAN-AFRICAN 

PARLIAMENTARY DIPLOMACY 


She is young, in her 30’s and already president of 

a rural commune of Tizi Nisli in Beni Mellal province 

in Morocco. She has demonstrated leadership, 

diplomacy competence and ability to mobilize 

local constituents in the Morocco’s Sept 8 elections 

in 2021. 

Meryem Ouhssata, the first Moroccan young 

woman to be formally elected member of the 

pan-African parliament and rapporteur of its 

Justice and Human Rights Committee, has also 

been elected for the second time as a member 

of the Moroccan parliament for the 2021-2026 

Legislative mandate. She is currently a member of 

the Parliamentary Assembly of the Union for the 

Mediterranean 

As an engaged member of the parliament 

believing in democracy, she has been brave 

enough to protect the ballot box from South 

African and Zimbabwean MPs wanting to create 

chaos during the election of the new president of 

the Pan African Parliament, which would likely to go 

to Mali’s candidate, Haidara Aichata Cisse. 

Meryem Ouhssata is being hailed as a hero for 

fighting to defend democracy in the prestigious 

institution despite a continued culture of violence 

and harassment in the parliament’s chamber. 

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REBECCA EBOKPO, SENIOR 

ASSOCIATE, AELEX PARTNERS 

RRebecca is a Senior 

Associate in AELEX 

Partners, a leading full 

service commercial law 

firm in Nigeria. Her practice 

areas cover Corporate/ 

Commercial, International Trade, 

Regulatory Compliance, Capital 

Market, Dispute Resolution and 

Company Secretarial. 

She is not just a lawyer, she 

is an ambitious woman with 

many interests. She is a brand 

ambassador for Nexford 

University where she earned 

her MBA. She never hides her 

intention of becoming Nigeria’s 

president sometime in the future. 

But that is not all about Rebecca, 

she sits on the board of several 

companies and has contributed 

to national development in 

several fora. As an international 

trade expert, she coordinated the 

Business Services Workstream 

of the Secretariat of the National 

Action Committee on AfCFTA. 

She is a mental health advocate, 

a depression counselor and 

passionate philanthropist. She is 

currently the President-Elect of 

the Rotary Club of Abuja Wuse 

2, Nigeria as well as the visioner 

and Chairperson of JOHN AND 

REBECCA EBOKPO FOUNDATION, 

which she co-started with her 

husband. Her biggest dream 

is to see a world where food is 

a fundamental right and free 

for the less privileged. Rebecca 

runs a charity farm through her 

foundation and gives out food 

supplies to vulnerable families 

and communities under the 

“Zero Hunger Project” which she 

has successfully operated for 

some years now. 

Rebecca is a force to reckon with 

and is no doubt an outstanding 

individual. 

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FEHINTOLUWA 

ADEMOLA- 

ADETUBERU 

Fehintoluwa 

Ademola-Adetuberu 

is a seasoned 

speaker,equipper, 

strategist, kingdom 

advancer, awakener 

and transformational 

global leader. She is the 

privileged 

Founder and Lead 

Coach of Polished and 

Fit; a premier online 

preparatory academy 

and finishing school 

equipping the Aspiring 

Bride, Bride to be, 

Newlywed and Young 

Families with the right 

information, relevant 

trainings and rich 

resources to empower 

and help them prepare 

as they navigate 

singlehood, relationship, 

courtship, marriage and 

family life on the right 

foundation. 

She is also the CEO of 

The Refinery Resources 

International, a Business 

Strategy and Innovation 

Management company 

as well as Executive 

Director 

and Co-facilitator at 

The Barricade Executive 

Protection. 

As an awakener, 

innovator and 

strategist, she does the 

work of refining people, 

catalysing businesses, 

organizations, and 

ideas, presenting them 

at a much 

higher value than they 

previously were. 

She provides 

mentorship and training 

to individuals through 

the Polished and Fit 

Preparatory Academy, 

coaching programmes, 

and solution-based 

resources, that are 

guaranteed to offer 

relevant preparation 

for life and marriage, 

to avoid the need for 

consistent repairs in the 

future. 

She has personally 

mentored and provided 

guidance to hundreds 

of women and men 

from different works of 

life. 

Fehintoluwa’s core 

skills are creativity, 

equipping, innovation, 

planning, organization, 

documentation, 

motivation, training, 

guiding, effective 

communication, 

counselling, 

discernment, and 

structuring. 

She is a graduate of 

Industrial Chemistry, 

a Certified Media 

Presenter from PEFTI 

Film Institute, as well a 

Certified Management 

Consultant trained and 

accredited from the 

Centre for Management 

Development (CMD), a 

U.S Certified Marriage 

Mentor and Relationship 

Coach and a Mental 

Health and Addiction 

Counsellor in Training 

(CMHAC) 

She has featured at 

various speaking events 

online with a combined 

listening guest strength 

of over 10,000 including 

the NHN Meet and Greet 

2020 virtual session, 

The Whole Woman 

Conference of Ladies 

Aflame, NHN 

book club live, NHN 4TH 

Anniversary in 2021 for 

the war 

room, NHN special 

singles’ session on 

clubhouse, CBN 

Africa (700 Club 

Abuja) feature as a 

panelist amongst 

other productive 

engagements. 

She is married for nine 

years and counting to 

her purpose partner 

and they are blessed 

with three graceful sons. 

FEHINTOLUWA ADEMOLA- 

ADETUBERU (FT THE 

AWAKENER) 

FOUNDER AND LEAD 

COACH, POLISHED AND 

FIT 

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JAMILA SEDQI, FIRST 

MOROCCAN FEMALE JUDGE 

AT THE AU ADMINISTRATIVE 

TRIBUNAL 


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Rabat- Moroccan Judge Jamila Sedqi, a 

renowned attorney general at the Court 

of Cassation in Morocco and councilor 

at the president of the public Ministry 

cabinet, is the first Moroccan female 

judge at the Administrative Tribunal of 

the African Union. She is also and the 

President of the African Judges Dialogue 

Forum. 

On March 2022, Sedqi, won the 2022 

European International Women’s 

Leadership Award (EIWLA), established 

by the European Movement International 

(EMI) and the European Women’s Lobby 

(EWL) to honor prominent female figures 

who bring about change in maledominated 

fields. 

After receiving the award from Vice- 

President of the European Parliament 

Nicolas Beer, Sedqi stressed the progress 

made to improve the conditions of 

Moroccan women at the policy level 

while highlighting the representation 

of women in the field of the judiciary 

which has reached 24.87% (1048 female 

judges) of the total judges in Morocco 

which account 4215 judges 

It is worth to mention that following the 

establishment of the Superior Council of 

the Judiciary, its composition has been 

strengthened by increasing the number 

of elected judges, which amounts to ten, 

including three women. 

Sedqi has a bright career in her field. She 

began her professional career in 1990, 

as First Deputy of the King’s Prosecutor 

at the Rabat Court of First Instance, then 

as President of the Chamber and Vice- 

President of the Court. 

In 2004, she joined the General 

Secretariat of the Ministry of Justice 

as Advisor, then Advisor in charge of 

Legal Studies in the Office of the Minister 

of Justice. She was also appointed 

President of the Chamber at the Court 

of Appeal of Rabat and then Attorney 

General at the Court of Cassation. 

From 2008 to 2016, she was appointed 

as a Liaison Judge in Belgium and from 

2016 to 2021 she held the position of a 

judge legal advisor within the mission of 

the Kingdom of Morocco to the European 

Union in Brussels. 

In criminal matters, she has been 

appointed since 2010 as an expert 

member of the judicial quadripartite in 

charge of the fight against terrorism. She 

is currently the only female Moroccan 

member judge at the Administrative 

Tribunal of the African Union since July 

2019. 

Beside her professional career, Sedqi 

is also active in civil society mainly in 

the field of women’s and children’s 

rights; she was an active member of the 

League for the Protection of the Child, 

the National Observatory for the Rights 

of the Child, and the National Union of 

Moroccan Women.


ASMAE BOUREDDAYA, 

A YOUNG DIPLOMAT 

WITH SPECIAL 

ENGAGEMENT IN 

AFRICAN AFFAIRS 

By Karima Rhanem, Senior Managing Editor, 

North Africa 

Asmae 

Boureddaya is 

one of the young 

figures of Moroccan 

diplomacy 

in Africa. She 

served in the first 

Permanent Mission 

of the Kingdom 

of Morocco to the 

African Union after 

Morocco’s return 

in 2017, where she 

headed legal and 

financial issues as 

well as protocol. 

She gained more 

experience while 

dealing with 

complex nature 

of multilateral 

negotiations, 

making her at the 

forefront of several 

issues. 

Her experience 

and expertise at 

the African Union 

made her eligible 

for important 

positions involving 

African Affairs. She 

was appointed 

on January 2020 

as the Senior 

Partnership Officer 

and Special Advisor 

to the CEO of the 

African Union 

Development 

Agency (AUDA- 

NEPAD) on 

Engagement with 

Private Sector 

and Resource 

Mobilization. She 

is also the chair 

of the board of 

Administration of 

the International 

Center for 

Diplomacy and 

advisor for African 

Affairs in charge of 

several initiatives 

involving mainly 

youth and women 

leaders of the 

African continent. 

She started her 

professional life as 

early as the age of 

16 being the Vice- 

President of Fifaw 

NGO, a Moroccan 

NGO advocating for 

youth and women 

integration in the 

society through 

culture and 

entrepreneurship. 

She was then 

elected as the 

Deputy Secretary 

General of the 

“Alliance of 

Independents” 

a Moroccan 

political Think Tank 

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which supports and attempts 

to influence decision-makers in 

various ministries by conducting 

studies and developing opinion 

papers on several social and 

political issues. 

She also was elected from 2011 to 

2015 as a member of the National 

Council of The National Rally 

of Independents, a Moroccan 

political party, allowing her to 

work in support of the 3rd largest 

parliamentary group in the 

Kingdom collaborating closely with 

several main ministries such as 

Economy and Finance and Youth 

and Sports. 

Mrs Boureddaya joined the Ministry 

of Foreign Affairs of the Kingdom 

of Morocco where she served as 

an advisor to His Excellency Nasser 

Bourita, the current MFA, as well as 

an Advisor to the Director of Asian 

Affairs where she helped in several 

economic and financial operations 

prior to her deployment to the first 

Permanent Mission of the Kingdom 

of Morocco to the African Union. 

She continues to support non 

state actors by providing citizen 

diplomacy counseling and 

leadership empowerment support. 

Mrs Asmae is a graduate of the 

Moroccan Academy for Diplomatic 

Studies and holds a Bachelor’s in 

Public International law. 

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MOROCCAN ACTIVIST AICHA 

DUIHI ROLLS UP HER SLEEVES TO 

ADVOCATE FOR THE RIGHTS OF THE 

SEQUESTERED POPULATIONS IN TINDOUF 

CAMPS 


Whether in Geneva, the 

headquarters of the 

Human Rights Council, 

in New York, the UN headquarters 

or within the different European 

institutions in Brussels, the 

Moroccan Saharawi activist 

Aicha Duihi spares no efforts 

and rolls up her sleeves to 

advocate for Morocco’s territorial 

integrity and unity and mobilize 

against the exploitation of the 

sequestered populations in “the 

camps of shame, in Tindouf 

Representing the voice of 

oppressed women and 

children in Tindouf, in southern 

Algeria, she keeps calling the 

international community to 

assuming its moral responsibility 

regarding the torture and 

systematic violations of human 

rights in these camps, which 

have become a common 

practice of the so called Polisario 

Front. Her moral commitment 

to her region Laayoune, south 

of Morocco, made her devote 

a large part of her career 

to community work and the 

defense of human rights while 

contributing to the launch of 

many citizens’ initiatives more 

specifically in relations to 

AMAZONS|22 

children’s rights. 

As president of the International 

Observatory for Peace, 

Democracy and Human Rights 

in Geneva” (IOPDHR-GENEVA), 

Duihi issued a statement 

condemning international 

silence on the state of Polisario 

led camps in Tindouf and 

Lahmada, specifically calling out 

arbitrary trials and the arrests 

of journalists and other human 

rights activists. 

Duihi has also lobbied the UN 

Security Council to address 

the pre-existing state of 

gender-based inequality and 

discrimination in regards to the 

role of women in establishing 

peace in the region. She 

believes that the Polisario Front 

is worsening the situation of 

women by exploiting them to fuel 

hate speech, and using them as 

a tool to extend the crisis. 

Duihi is also a researcher in 

human rights and economy 

and member of the National 

Commission for the Coordination 

of Measures to Combat and 

Prevent Trafficking in Persons 

and founding member of the 

“WE” network for women’s rights 

defenders in North Africa and the 

Middle East. 

She holds of a Diploma of 

Advanced graduate Studies/ 

DAGS in Organizational 

Economics from the 

Mohammed V Faculty - Rabat 

Agdal, a Bachelor’s degree in 

Management from the Cadi 

Ayad Faculty – Marrakech, and 

a diploma from the “Institute of 

Business Administration”/IBA 

Poitier-France. She is a provincial 

head of women’s affairs and 

a teacher trainer in business 

management. 

She is known for launching 

several civic initiatives and 

projects, particularly in the 

defence of human rights at 

the local, national regional 

and international levels, aimed 

at creating wider spaces for 

dialogue on peace issues and 

the values of human rights, 

tolerance and coexistence 

targeting children, adolescents 

and youth. 

A path through which she has 

accumulated many honours and 

awards, the last of which was the 

European Award for International 

Women’s Leadership at the 

European Parliament in Brussels 

in March 2019.


Aya 

Chebbi 

Aya Chebbi (Arabic: Aya al-Chebbi; born 1988), is a 

Tunisian diplomat, and a pan-African and feminist 

activist. She became the first appointed African 

Union Envoy on Youth in November 2018. 

Appointed by the chairperson of the 

African Union Commission Moussa 

Faki in November 2018, as the youngest 

senior official in the history of the African 

Union and youngest diplomat in the 

chairperson’s cabinet. She supports the 

Chairperson in addressing his thematic 

priority of working with and for young 

people and advocate to Silencing the 

Guns by 2020 

Born in Dahmani, Chebbi earned a BA 

in International Relations from Tunis 

El Manar University. She went on to 

receive a Masters in African studies 

with Distinction from SOAS University of 

London, where her research focused 

on state-youth relation linked to 

their subscription to Jihadism, with a 

dissertation titled “Youth Radicalisation, 

a comparative Study of Tunisia- Kenya”. 

Chebbi came to prominence and 

international attention as a blogger 

during the 2010 Tunisian Revolution. She 

is referred to as a Pan-African Feminist 

and a well known blogger 

Her blogs were published on 

OpenDemocracy and Al-Jazeera 

among numerous media outlets. She 

subsequently traveled across the 

African continent to support and train 

thousands of social movement leaders 

and activists on mobilization, blogging, 

leadership and non-violence as a 

scholar, mentor, speaker and activist. 

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In 2013, Chebbi co-founded 

with her feminist friends and 

bloggers, Konda Delphine from 

Cameroon and Rose Wachuka 

from Kenya, the Voice of Women 

initiative (VOW-I), a feminist 

collective that empowers 

women through advocacy and 

access to the digital space. 

VOW-I trains correspondents in 

various cities around the world to 

document the stories of ordinary 

women doing extraordinary 

things. The platform published 

about 200 stories, trained 35 

correspondents and successfully 

implemented field projects on 

health, peace and the safety of 

women. 

In March 2015, she was invited 

as the Youth Speaker for UN 

Women’s celebratory event for 

the 20th anniversary of the Fourth 

World Conference on Women in 

Beijing, to an audience of some 

2,000 people including world 

leaders, celebrities and activists. 

Aya was appointed as an 

emissary of Tunisian youth in 

32nd summit of the African Union 

in Addis Ababa. 

In November 2018, Chebbi was 

appointed as the first African 

Union Special Envoy on Youth 

by the Chairperson of the 

African Union Commission, 

Moussa Faki Mahamat for a 

AMAZONS|24 

two-year mandate to serve 

as a representative and 

advocate for the voices and 

interests of African youths. In 

this capacity, she also works 

with various AU organs, Regional 

Economic Communities (RECs), 

governments, civil societies, and 

academia to enhance, empower 

and strengthen the position of 

young people within and outside 

of the African Union. Chebbi 

started her mission by launching 

the game changing 2019/2020 

Action Plan outlining four Models 

of Action ; (1) Innovation, (2) 

Advocacy, (3) Intergenerational & 

Policy and (4) Communication. 

In June 2019, Chebbi was 

featured in the Visual 

Collaborative Polaris catalogue, 

under the Voyager series for 

humanities, she was interviewed 

alongside 25 people from around 

the world such as; Seun Kuti, 

Berla Mundi and Dawn Okoro. 

Since 2020, Chebbi has been 

serving as a member of the 

Independent Panel for Pandemic 

Preparedness and Response 

(IPPR), an independent group 

examining how the World 

Health Organization (WHO) and 

countries handled the COVID-19 

pandemic, co-chaired by Helen 

Clark and Ellen Johnson Sirleaf. 

Awards and Recognition 

2019 – Bill & Melinda Gates 

Foundation Campaigner Award 

2019 – MIPAD 100, a list of the 

Most Influential People of African 

Descent 

2019 – Ten Young African 

Changemakers by 

YouthhubAfrica 

2018 – Young Talent Of The Year 

By UNLEASH 

2017 – UNAOC fellowship, 

awarded by the United Nations 

Alliance of Civilizations (UNAOC) 

2016 – Huffington Post’s List of 

Inspiring Young Women from 

Around the World 

2016 – List of Formidable Women 

Leading Change 

2016 – Member of the Crans 

Montana Forum of New Leaders 

for Tomorrow 

2016 – Arabian Business list of 100 

under 40 Most Influential Arabs in 

the world 

2015 – Mo Ibrahim Foundation 

Scholarship Award 

2012 – Fulbright Scholarship 

Award 

2011 – MENA Democracy 

Fellowship, awarded by the World 

Affairs Institute (WAI)


AMAZONS|25


PASTOR FAITH 

OYEDEPO 

Pastor Faith Abiola 

Oyedepo is the 

wife of Bishop 

David Oyedepo, the 

founder of the Living Faith 

Church Worldwide a.k.a. 

Winners’ Chapel, and Senior 

Pastor of Faith Tabernacle, 

Canaanland, Ota, Nigeria. 

She propagates the Good 

News of Jesus Christ 

along with her husband, in 

numerous nations of the 

world, with a mission to 

liberate the oppressed. 

The mandate that 

culminated into this ministry 

was received in 1981. She 

has a ministry to families 

and homes, which she has 

dedicated her life to, by 

showing people the perfect 

will of God for their homes 

and relationships. She also 

has a divine call to make 

her shoulders available, and 

enrich the lives of singles in 

a unique way. 

Born February 5 1958, as 

Florence Abiola Akano, 

Pastor Faith is endeared 

to many in Nigeria, and 

across the globe, especially 

for her endless work in 

strengthening the family 

unit. She has written several 

books, and maximized 

various avenues of 

communication, such as 

media outlets, to become 

an authority in the area of 

family, youth, and women 

empowerment, as well as 

marital success. 

With her life as a practical 

example, she has been able 

to portray a model lifestyle 

for others to replicate. 

She has demonstrated in 

practical terms and through 

deep spiritual insight, that 

the home can truly be the 

Eden that God created it to 

be. 

Her passion has been 

further strengthened by a 

recent happening in her 

life, in which her health was 

challenged, and she was 

supernaturally delivered 

from death. This renewed 

her zeal and hunger to 

impact her world. Today, 

she is back, preaching God’s 

Word with a renewed sense 

of urgency and passion. 

This experience has been 

captured in her most 

exciting book, Rescued from 

Destruction. 

Despite all that God has 

accomplished in and 

through her, she believes 

that there are still more lives 

to impact and that the best 

is yet to come. 

In 1982, Pastor Faith got 

married to David Oyedepo. 

They marriage is blessed 

with four children (David Jr, 

Isaac, Love and Joys). David 

Jr and Isaac Oyedepo were 

ordained as Pastors in May 

2007 by Kenneth Copeland. 

David Jr. is currently the 

resident pastor at Winners 

Chapel Canaan Land. 

AMAZONS|26


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AISHA BUHARI 

Aisha Halilu Buhari, born 

on 17th February, 1971, 

in Adamawa state, is 

the First Lady of Nigeria 

and wife of the current 

President Muhammadu 

Buhari, who assumed 

office on 29 May 

2015 after defeating 

the then-incumbent 

President Goodluck 

Jonathan. Aisha Buhari 

is a cosmetologist and 

beauty therapist. 

Her grandfather, Alhaji 

Muhammadu Ribadu 

was Nigeria’s first 

minister of defence. 

Aisha’s father was a 

civil engineer, and her 

mother is a descendant 

of the Ankali family, 

renowned farmers. 

Aisha Buhari went to 

primary and secondary 

school in Adamawa 

State. On 2 December 

1989, Aisha married 

Muhammadu Buhari, 

who had five children 

from a previous 

marriage to Safinatu 

Yusuf. Aisha and 

Muhammadu Buhari 

have five children 

together. 

Aisha Buhari holds a 

Bachelor of Arts degree 

in public administration 

from Ambrose Alli 

University (AAU), and 

a master’s degree in 

international affairs 

and strategic studies 

from the Nigerian 

Defence Academy, 

Kaduna. Aisha Buhari 

obtained a diploma 

in beauty therapy 

from the Carlton 

Institute of Beauty 

Therapy, Windsor, 

United Kingdom. Aisha 

Buhari holds a postgraduate 

diploma 

in cosmetology and 

beauty from Academy 

Esthetique Beauty 

Institute of France. Aisha 

Buhari is a member of 

the United Kingdom 

Vocational Training and 

Charitable Trust and the 

International Health and 

Beauty Council. 

For years, Mrs. Aisha 

Buhari has run a 

successful business as 

the founder/managing 

director of Hanzy Spa 

and principal of Hanzy 

Beauty Institute, a 

beauty salon in Kaduna 

and Abuja. Aisha 

Buhari is a resource 

person to the National 

Basic Technical 

Education (NBTE), on 

beauty therapy and 

cosmetology and has 

participated in the 

curriculum development 

of small medium 

enterprises for NBTE. 

Aisha Buhari closed her 

beauty salon following 

the emergence of her 

husband as president of 

Nigeria. 

Aisha published a 

book titled Essentials 

of Beauty Therapy: A 

Complete Guide for 

Beauty Specialists, 

which has been 

recommended as a text 

for the NBTE curriculum. 

Aisha Buhari is a vocal 

advocate of women’s 

rights and children’s 

rights, and this was 

a focal point during 

her campaign for her 

husband’s election 

in 2015. Aisha has, on 

several occasions, 

emphasized the need 

for young girls to get 

primary and secondary 

school education before 

getting married, saying 

that she believes no 

girl should get married 

before the age of 17. 

She has also criticized 

child marriage and 

homosexuality. 

In May 2015, on the 

sidelines of the Global 

Women Conference 

held in Buenos Aires, 

Argentina, she stressed 

the need for Nigerian 

laws that will protect 

the women from forced 

early marriages, sex 

trafficking and other 

issues Nigerian girls and 

women contend with. 

Aisha raised concerns 

on child sexual abuse 

in Nigeria, sex trafficking 

and the need for 

legislation against early 

marriage. 

Aisha Buhari met with 

some mothers of the 

abducted Chibok Girls 

on 14 April 2016, and 

donated proceeds from 

her book to parents 

of the Chibok girls, 

the Buni Yadi boys 

murdered in 2014, and 

children suffering from 

malnutrition. 

Future Assured is an 

initiative founded by 

Aisha Buhari to continue 

her advocacy work 

for the health and 

well-being of women 

and children through 

community mobilization 

and health promotion. 

Aisha was prompted 

by the need to improve 

the current poor health 

outcomes of women, 

children and other 

vulnerable groups of 

the Nigerian population. 

She affirmed her 

commitment to this 

work at a stakeholders 

meeting held at the 

presidential villa and a 

public launch of Future 

Assured programs at 

the sidelines of the 

United Nations General 

Assembly in New York on 

29 September 2015. 

Aisha Buhari also 

works with internally 

displaced people 

resulting from the Boko 

Haram insurgency. She 

set up a committee for 

the distribution of relief 

materials after a visit to 

an IDP camp in Borno 

State. 

AMAZONS|28


ALOMA MARIAM 

MUKHTAR 

Aloma Mariam Mukhtar GCON 

(born 20 November 1944) is a 

Nigerian jurist and former Chief 

Justice of Nigeria from July 2012 to 

November 2014. She was called to 

the English Bar in November, 1966 

and to the Nigerian Bar in 1967. 

On 16 July 2012, President Goodluck 

Jonathan swore her in as the 

13th indigenous Chief Justice of 

Nigeria, and conferred on her the 

Nigerian National Honour of the 

Grand Commander of the Order 

of the Niger (GCON). 

Mukhtar is from Adamawa state. 

She attended Saint. George’s 

Primary School, Zaria, St. 

Bartholomew’s School, Wusasa, 

Zaria, Rossholme School for Girls, 

East Brent, Somerset, England, 

Reading Technical College, 

Reading, Berkshire, England, and 

Gibson and Weldon College of 

Law, England, before being called 

to the English Bar in absentia in 

November, 1966. 

Mukhtar began her career in 1967 

as Pupil State Counsel, Ministry of 

Justice, Northern Nigeria and rose 

through the ranks 

Office of the Legal Draftsman, 

Interim Common Services 

Agency, Magistrate Grade I, North 

Eastern State Government, 1971 

Chief Registrar, Kano State 

Government Judiciary, 1973 

Judge of the High Court of Kano 

State, 1977—1987 

Justice of the Court of Appeal of 

Nigeria, Ibadan division, 1987— 

1993 

Justice of the Supreme Court of 

Nigeria, 2005—2012 

Justice of the Supreme Court of 

The Gambia 2011-2012 

Chief Justice of Nigeria, 2012— 

2014 

In her career, Mukhtar has been 

many firsts: she is the first female 

lawyer from Northern Nigeria, first 

female judge of the High Court 

in Kano State judiciary, the first 

female justice of the Court of 

Appeal of Nigeria, and the first 

female Chief Justice of Nigeria. 

During the course of her career, 

she received several awards 

including the Nigerian national 

honor of Commander of the 

Order of Niger in 2006. Prior to 

that, in 1993 she received a Gold 

Merit Award for her contribution 

in the development of law in Kano 

state and was also inducted into 

the Nigerian Hall of Fame in 2005. 

AMAZONS|29


SOPHIA ABDI 

NOOR 

Coming from a marginalized community in Kenya where 

women had no much power, Sophia Abdi Noor impressed 

many. Against all the odds, she managed to beat her male 

counterpart making her the first female elected Member 

of Parliament from the region. Since then she has tirelessly 

been fighting for the rights of women in marginalized 

communities: this has seen her win international awards 

related to women empowerment. 

AMAZONS|30


JOICE 

MUJURU 

Joice Mujuru has done an impressive job for 

her country. The great African woman leader 

deputized Robert Mugabe by being the vice 

president of Zimbabwe between years 2004- 

2014. During her time in government, she was 

able to serve in different ministries including 

Women’s affairs where she played an active 

role in ensuring that the women in her country 

were empowered. 

Joice is one of the women leaders that were 

able to get into the male-dominated scene 

at a young age of 25. One of her major 

accomplishments was protecting her country 

while in the army which saw her rise to the 

ranks of a member of general staff in the 

Zimbabwe African National Liberation Army. 

AMAZONS|31


AJA FATOUMATA 

JALLOW-TAMBAJANG 

ja Fatoumata has served as the Vice president of Gambia. 

This strong African woman has played an active role in the 

fight for human rights, more so, women’s rights. She was 

also in the forefront of fighting Yahya Jammeh’s dictatorial 

regime which saw the country’s citizens gain back their 

freedom of expression and association. 

AMAZONS|32


GRACA 

MACHEL 

Graça Machel is an African stateswoman whose 

decades-long professional and public life is 

rooted in Mozambique’s struggle for self-rule 

and international advocacy for women and 

children’s rights. She is a former freedom fighter 

in Mozambique’s FRELIMO movement and the 

country’s first Minister of Education. 

In the years following her tenure in government, 

Machel produced a ground-breaking United 

Nations Children’s Fund (Unicef) report, The Impact 

of Armed Conflict on Children, that changed 

the way the United Nations and member states 

respond in conflict zones. Since then, she has 

worked tirelessly in support of global health, child 

welfare, and women’s rights and empowerment. 

Machel works through several regional and 

international development bodies to accelerate 

social transformation. Machel is a founding 

member of The Elders, and played a key role in 

establishing Girls Not Brides. She is a member of the 

UN Secretary-General’s Sustainable Development 

Goals Advocacy Group and sits on the high-level 

steering group for Every Woman Every Child. 

Machel lends her expertise to a number of 

organisations in a governance role. She serves as 

Board chair of the Africa Child Policy Forum, Board 

chair of the African Centre for the Constructive 

Resolution of Disputes, as well as executive chair 

of the Mandela Institute for Development Studies. 

Machel is a Board nember of the Mo Ibrahim 

Foundation and Education Above All. She is Board 

chair emeritus for the Partnership for Maternal, 

Newborn & Child Health (PMNCH) and is a Unicef 

Young People’s Agenda Global Advisory Board 

member. She also sits on the Jack Ma Netpreneur 

Advisory Board.Additionally, she is the chancellor 

of the University of Cape Town, chancellor of the 

African Leadership University and the president of 

SOAS, University of London. 

Machel has created three non-governmental 

organisations in her own right. She founded 

and serves as president of the Foundation for 

Community Development and the Zizile Institute for 

Child Development. She founded the Graça Machel 

Trust in 2010 where she focuses on advocating for 

women’s economic and financial empowerment, 

food security and nutrition, education for all, as well 

as good governance. 

Among numerous awards, Machel has received 

the United Nations’ Nansen Refugee Award in 

recognition of her long-standing humanitarian 

work. 

In 1997, she was made an honorary Dame 

Commander of the Order of the British Empire. 

In 2018, she was awarded the World Health 

Organisation’s highest honour, the WHO Gold 

Medal, for her enormous contributions to the health 

and wellbeing of women, children and adolescents. 

Graça Machel has dedicated her life to improving 

the fate of women and children, inspiring hope, and 

building a more just and equitable world for us all. 

AMAZONS|33


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THATO 

SCHERMER 

Pretoria-born Thato Schermer 

founded Zoie Health, a digital 

healthcare app for women, in 

2020. Schermer’s wish was to 

create a platform that would 

provide women with easier 

access to healthcare, from 

consultations with GPs to birth 

control. 

The app features a service for 

contraceptive subscriptions. 

Women can also use the app 

to get virtual consultations 

with medical practitioners that 

specialise in women’s health. 

Raised in both SA and the US, 

Schermer holds several business 

qualifications, including a 

Masters in Management and 

Masters in Digital Business 

from the University of 

Witswatersrand in South Africa 

and a qualification in Strategy 

and Leadership from Harvard 

Business School of Executive 

Education in the US. 

She is as much concerned with 

empowering others as with 

leading successful businesses. 

This is shown not only by the 

purpose of Zoie Health, but her 

former volunteer work in Cape 

Town concerned with economic 

empowerment of entrepreneurs 

from disadvantaged economic 

backgrounds. 

AMAZONS|35


SETHEBE 

MANAKE 

Hailing from Botswana, Sethebe 

Manake is an expert in realestate 

who decided to become 

a tech business owner. She 

founded the digital platform 

GoSmartValue aimed at real 

estate developers, financiers, 

and investors, incorporating her 

knowledge of real estate. 

GoSmartValue provides all the 

(accurate) information users 

need about investing in real 

estate in a single place. Having 

reliable information regarding all 

things concerning real estate in 

one centralised platform makes 

it much easier and quicker for 

users to handle their real estate 

matters. The platform allows 

users to do everything from carry 

out property valuations and 

compare sales prices, to gain 

information assessing locations 

and much more. It also has 

tips on things like how to start 

investing in real estate. 

Manake holds a bachelor’s 

degree in Property Studies from 

the University of Cape Town in 

South Africa and a Masters in 

Strategic Development from the 

University of Derby in England. 

With lengthy professional 

experience in property and real 

estate, GoSmartValue was her 

first foray into the tech startup 

world. 

AMAZONS|36


JIHAN 

ABASS 

Jihan Abass (born 1993/1994) 

is a Kenyan entrepreneur 

and businesswoman who is 

the founder and CEO of Lami 

Insurance Technology, an 

insurance technology company 

based in Nairobi, Kenya, and 

Griffin Insurance, a digital vehicle 

insurance company. Abass 

founded Lami to increase Africa’s 

low insurance coverage. 

Abass was formerly a 

commodity futures trader and 

sugar trader at a trading house 

in London, England, where she 

traded on the New York City and 

London sugar markets. 

Abass has an MBA from the 

University of Oxford and an 

undergraduate degree in finance 

from Bayes Business School. 

In 2020, Abass was picked to 

represent Africa at InsureTech 

Connect 2020. 

In 2021, Quartz named her an 

Africa Innovator. 

In 2018, Kenyan national Jihan 

Abass founded Lami, an 

insurtech startup, which she 

heads as the CEO. As of this year, 

Lami is the top female-owned 

startup in Africa. Out of the total 

funding amount of $5.6 million 

Lami has raised from all funding 

rounds it has ever participated 

in, $3.6 million of that comes 

from its most recent seed round 

on 2 August 2022. 

The end-to-end digital 

insurance platform and API is 

geared towards companies 

of all sizes and sectors with 

a B2B and B2B2C model. It 

allows businesses to use it 

to offer their own embedded 

insurance products with ease, 

and easily links companies 

with underwriters to streamline 

the process, providing a better 

customer experience. For 

instance, Lami’s flagship product, 

the Griffin Motor App, makes the 

entire process of purchasing car 

insurance just two minutes long. 

Lami has attracted 14 investors 

including a New York-based 

venture firm called Harlem 

Capital that invests in seedstage 

tech startups founded 

by women and previously 

disadvantaged groups. The 

Kenyan startup was also 

selected last year to take part 

in a leading fintech accelerator 

programme by Calayst Fund, 

a US accelerator that supports 

innovative, progressive tech 

startups from emerging markets 

such as Kenya. 

Abass holds an undergraduate 

Finance degree from a business 

school in London and an MBA 

from Oxford. She traded on the 

New York and London sugar 

markets prior to founding Lami. 

She says Lami will be using the 

funds they have received to 

continue to develop its business 

and provide its services further 

across the continent. 

AMAZONS|37


NANEES 

ADEL 

Dr. Nanees has over 24 years 

of experience in the healthcare 

industry, having held several 

key positions across an array 

of medical establishments 

including Director of Emergency 

Hospital at Ain Shams University 

Hospital, Advisor to the Minister 

of Health and Population for 

Hospital Affairs, and Chairman of 

the Scientific Council for Health 

Facilities Fellowship. In 2004, 

Dr. Nanees was awarded a PhD 

in Internal Medicine from Ain 

Shams University. 

She’s currently the Managing 

Director, Cairo Specialist Hospital 

AMAZONS|38


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SARAH 

MENKER 

Sara Menke is an 

Entrepreneur and the CEO 

of Gro Intelligence. She is 

a trustee of the Mandela 

Institute for Development Studies 

and was elected one of the 

World Economic Forum Young 

Global Leaders. 

Menker was born and raised in 

Ethiopia. She studied Economics 

and African Studies at Mount 

Holyoke College. She moved to 

the London School of Economics 

for her graduate studies, and 

eventually earned an Master 

of Business Administration at 

Columbia University. 

Menker is a former commodities 

group Vice President at Morgan 

Stanley. During her time at 

Morgan Stanley, Menker 

became interested in farmland 

investments. She left her job in 

Wall Street to use her skills in 

data analytics for social good. 

She became concerned by 

AMAZONS|40 

threat of a global food crisis, 

and started to investigate how 

Africa could mitigate the Earth’s 

growing demands for food. She 

estimated that by 2030 food 

shortages could be as significant 

as the financial crisis or dot-com 

bubble crash. Menker predicts 

that the world could face a 214 

trillion calorie deficit. 

In 2014 Menker established 

Gro Intelligence, a data-driven 

platform which connects food 

market around the world. Gro 

Intelligence includes information 

such as the cost of avocado 

exports from Mexico and popular 

coffee beans, and uses artificial 

intelligence to make predictions 

about trends in food prices. Gro 

Intelligence offer software that 

attempts to make agricultural, 

weather and climate data 

easy to understand. The data 

is combined with satellite 

imagery and creates over 1,000 

models a day. She has used 

Gro Intelligence to investigate 

the impact of natural disasters, 

including droughts, on food 

supply The reports inform 

companies on what and where 

to sell products, as well as 

supporting policy makers and 

insurance companies. 

In 2017 Menker delivered a TED 

talk: A global food crisis may 

be less than a decade away, 

which has been watched over 1.5 

million times. In 2018 Menker was 

named the Henry C. Gardiner 

Global Food Systems Lecturer. 

She has presented at the 

Rockefeller Foundation, X and 

The New York Times. 

Menker is a trustee of the 

International Center for Tropical 

Agriculture and the Mandela 

Institute for Development 

Studies. She was selected by 

the World Economic Forum as a 

Young Global Leader in 2014. She 

is also a member of The Aspen 

Institute African Leadership 

Initiative. Menker is involved 

with Cognition X, the artificial 

intelligence information platform. 

In 2021, she was included in the 

Time 100, Time’s annual list of the 

100 most influential people in the 

world.


The New Africa 

amazons WOMEN 

Women leaders of today are 

tenacious and diverse. They are 

mobilizing the global climate 

movement, pushing for social 

protections, addressing the 

COVID-19 crisis, and dismantling 

systemic racial discrimination. 

Across the continent, women 

leaders improve lives and inspire 

a better future for all. 

Yet, equality is still far off, 

and progress on women’s 

participation in decisionmaking 

is too slow. Too many 

people still believe men make 

natural and better leaders than 

women, too many institutions 

are set up to favour and propel 

men’s leadership, and funding 

for women’s campaigns and 

initiatives remain pitifully low. At 

the current rate of progress, it will 

take 130 years to reach gender 

equality in the highest positions 

of power. 

Yet, there are still women out 

there blazing the trail, breaking 

and setting records, and 

changing the narratives that 

women are weaker vessels. Such 

women abound in Africa. 

Below, we present to you, a list of 

great selfless women making the 

African continent proud: 

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1) Fatima 

Samoura; 

Secretary 

General, 

FIFA 

2) UN Deputy 

SG 

Amina J. 

Mohammed, 

Deputy 

Secretary- 

General of the 

United Nations 

3) Jamila Sedqi; 

First Moroccan 

Female Judge 

at the AU 

Administrative 

Tribunal 

4) Aloma 

Mariam 

Mukhtar; Fmr. 

Chief Judge of 

Nigeria 

5) Karima 

Rhanem; 

President, 

Int’l 

Centre for 

Diplomacy 

6) Sethebe 

Manake; 

Founder, 

GoSmart 

Value 

7) Sara 

Menke; 

Entrepreneur/ 

CEO, Gro 

Intelligence 

10) 

Odunayo 

Eweniyi; 

Cofounder, 

PiggyVest 

8) Aminetou 

Bilal; Youth 

Activist 

&President, 

Movement 

of Patriots in 

Action 

9) 

Catherine 

Lesetedi; 

CEO, 

Botswana 

Insurance 

Holdings 

Ltd 

11) Nanees 

Adel; MD, 

Cairo 

Specialist 

Hospital 

12) Asmae 

Boureddaya; 

Young 

Diplomat 

13) Jihan 

Abbas; 

Founder/ 

CEO, Lami 

Insurance 

Tech. 

AMAZONS|42


14) Nneka 

Onyeali 

Ikpe; First 

MD/CEO, 

Fidelity 

Bank 

15) Thato 

Schermer; 

Founder, Zion 

Health Int’l 

16) Winnie 

Byanyima; 

Executive 

Director, 

Oxfam 

17) Anne 

Juuko; MD/ 

CEO, Stanbic 

Bank, Uganda 

18) Alice 

Banze; 

Executive 

Director, 

Gender & 

Sustainable 

Dev. 

Association 

of UN 

19) Meryem 

Ouhssata; 

Member, 

Parliamentary 

Assembly of the 

Union for the 

Mediterranean 

20) Martha 

Karua; 

Female 

Legislator 

21) Hon. 

Nouzha 

Bouchareb; 

Expert 

Consultant/ 

President, 

Connectin 

Group Int’l 

22) Joyce 

Hilda 

Banda; Fmr. 

President of 

Malawi 

23) Aya 

CHEBBI; 

Former 

AU Youth 

Envoy & 

Renowned 

Activist 

24) Saara 

Kuugongelwa 

Ahmadhila; 

Prime Minister of 

Namibia 

25) Pauline 

Tallen; Minister 

for Women 

Affairs, Nigeria 

26) Aicha Dulhi; President, 

Int’l Observatory for Peace, 

Democracy & Human Rights 

in Geneva 

AMAZONS|43


27) Samia 

Suluhu Hassan; 

Vice President of 

Tanzania 

28) Aja 

Fatoumata; 

Vice President 

of Gambia 

29) Graca 

Machel; 

Activist & Fmr. 

Education 

Minister of 

Mozambique 

30) Mansa 

Nettey, Chief 

Executive, 

Standard 

Chattered 

Bank, Ghana 

31) Louise Mushikiwaa; 

Secretary General, Int’l 

Organization of the La 

Francophone 

32) Pastor 

Faith 

Oyedepo; 

Wife to the 

Founder, 

Living Faith 

Church 

Worldwide 

33) 

Nkosazana 

Dlamini- 

Zuma; 

Apartheid 

Activist 

34) Alengot 

Oromait; Young 

Politician 

&Activist 

35) Helena 

Conradie, 

CEO, Satrix 40, 

South Africa 

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36) Joice 

Mujuru; 

Fmr. Vice 

President of 

Zimbabwe 

37) Diane 

Shima 

Rwigara; 

Women 

Leader/ 

Politician 

38) Sen. 

Amb. Hezena 

Lemaletian; 

Global Peace 

Ambassador 

39) Vivien 

Waziri 

Kwande; 

CEO, Life Aid 

Initiative Int’l 

40) Rebecca 

Ebokpo; 

Senior 

Associate, 

AELEX 

Partners 

41) Dorothy 

Nkhoma 

Shonga; 

Director, 

Palmontt 

SA, Malawi & 

Mozambique 

42) Amb. 

Dr. Bola 

Preys Ayo; 

CEO, Trillion 

Global 

Presidential 

consulting 

43) Amb. 

Adeshola 

Helen 

Onadipe; 

Founder/ 

Publisher, 

Ladies In 

Business 

Magazine 

44) Ojo 

Oluwabusola; 

Renowned 

Lawyer & 

Minister of 

God 

Arc. 

Ezinne.C.Okoro 

Enterpreneur 

and Business 

Operations 

Executive. 

CEO, Charez 

Foods. 

Mentor and 

coach to women 

and Youths 

46) Yvonne Ike; 

Managing Director, 

Sub-Saharan Africa, 

Bank of America, 

Nigeria 

47) Diane Karusisi, 

CEO, BK Group PLC, 

Rwanda 

48) Leila 

Fourie; CEO, 

JSE, South 

Africa 

49) Juliet Ehimuan; 

Director, West 

Africa, Google, 

Nigeria 

50) Ruth Zaipuna; 

CEO, NMB Bank, 

Tanzania 

AMAZONS|45


JANE 

KARUKU 

Jane Karuku, born in Kenya 

Circa, in 1961, is a Kenyan 

businesswoman and corporate 

executive, who in December 

2020, was appointed as the 

Managing Director and Chief 

Executive Officer of the East 

African Breweries Limited, 

headquartered in Nairobi, with 

subsidiaries in Kenya, Uganda, 

South Sudan and Tanzania. 

Before that, she served as the 

managing director of Kenya 

Breweries Limited, one of the 

Kenyan subsidiaries of EABL. She 

assumed her new position on 1 

January 2021. 

Jane Karuku holds a Bachelor of 

Science degree in Food Science 

and Technology, obtained from 

the University of Nairobi in 1985. 

Her degree of Master of Business 

Administration, was obtained 

from National University 

(California), in La Jolla, in 1992. 

For a period of nearly seven 

AMAZONS|46 

years, between 2002 and 2008, 

Karuku served as the managing 

director of Cadbury Schweppes, 

responsible for East and West 

Africa. She then served as the 

Deputy Chief Executive and 

Secretary General of Telkom 

Kenya, until 2012. After that, 

from 2012 until 2014, Karuku was 

the President of the Alliance 

for a Green Revolution in Africa 

(AGRA). In July 2015, she was 

appointed as the managing 

director of Kenya Breweries 

Limited, a full-time position 

where she served until December 

2020. 

In December 2020, Karuku 

was appointed as the new 

group CEO, replacing Andrew 

Cowan, who was reassigned 

as managing director for Africa 

Regional Markets at Diageo, the 

parent conglomerate.


CATHERINE 

LESETEDI 

Catherine Lesetedi is a graduate 

of Statistics from the University of 

Botswana. She has built a career 

in the insurance industry since 

she joined it in 1992. Currently, 

Catherine is the Group Chief 

Executive Officer of Botswana 

Insurance Holdings Limited 

(BIHL). 

She has built her career from 

scratch, and over the years, 

she has been adamant that 

adopting a flexible style of 

leadership is beneficial for 

leading an organization and 

getting the best out of her team. 

Looking at Lesetedi’s career, 

nothing about her story and 

her leadership principles and 

philosophies are ‘textbook’. Her 

style of leadership is pliable 

and acrobatic. It lends itself to 

whatever situation she and her 

team are in. 

She’s extremely driven, open 

and open-minded, preferring to 

lead from behind, pushing her 

team forward, encouraging their 

gifts and honoring their intellect, 

allowing them to innovate, to 

grow and give to the business 

what she cannot. 

Catherine maximizes on their 

strengths and makes sure that 

wherever there are gaps, there 

are people who are passionate, 

willing and able to execute and 

fill them. 

AMAZONS|47


There is nothing predictable 

about Catherine Lesetedi. Even 

her choice of Statistics as a 

field to study at the University of 

Botswana (UB) was a bit of a wild 

card, even for her. 

She describes it saying, “when 

we were making choices about 

what to study at varsity, we didn’t 

really know much about careers, 

to be honest with you, I didn’t 

know anything about Statistics 

until I got to the Department 

of Student Placement at the 

Ministry of Education.” 

“I was late; my father and I had 

run out of fuel. By the time we 

arrived, I was out of breath, and 

I had forgotten my initial course 

choices. My brother, who I really 

admired, had studied Public 

Administration and Political 

Science, and that’s what I 

wanted.” 

“They said that that weird 

combination didn’t exist, and 

told me that I was going to do 

Statistics and Demography.” 

“If you think something is difficult, 

it becomes really difficult. If you 

think you can do it, sometimes 

you even surprise yourself.” 

She studied Statistics at the 

AMAZONS|48 

University of Botswana, and even 

though her journey into that field 

was incidental, once there, she 

made the best of her situation, 

excelled and gleaned many 

things that she took forward with 

her into the rest of her life. 

Certain experiences and her 

mindset set the stage for her 

early career and propelled her 

forward. 

According to her, “in terms 

of decision-making, logical 

thinking, the confidence, and 

aptitude to learn; the program 

grounded me.” 

“I may not use the formulas 

every day, but there are skills 

that I gained that I apply on 

a daily basis, even if I don’t 

recognize that ‘this is Statistics.” 

The mathematical element 

empowered her to be able 

to engage with budgets and 

numbers, and not shy away from 

that aspect of whichever job she 

did. 

All of the disciplines in the world 

are interrelated, so having a 

good understanding of what 

is going on across the board is 

beneficial for one; especially if 

a young woman wants to build 

herself up and build her career. 

This is something she practices 

herself because, throughout 

the course of her career, she 

has gradually improved upon 

her leadership skills, attending 

leadership courses and taking 

on the responsibility of selfimprovement. 

Doing this has encouraged her 

to take a deeper look at herself; 

what drives her and pushes 

her beyond her own limitations. 

This outlook has put her in good 

stead as a leader, as someone 

who encourages others, ensuring 

that they are able to get the best 

out of what they need to do. 

As a mentor, both personally and 

professionally, the story that she 

tells, the example that she sets, 

is one of “show up and do your 

best.” 

Ms. Lesetedi is big on recognizing 

talent and putting it to good use 

within the BIHL Group. These are 

some of the elements that make 

her up as a woman, as a leader, 

and these are some of the things 

that she has imparted to her 

mentees.


ANNE 

JUUKO 

Anne Juuko was born in 1981, in the Central 

Region of Uganda. She is an investment 

banker and corporate executive, who 

is the managing director and chief 

executive officer of Stanbic Bank Uganda 

Limited, one of the largest commercial 

bank in the country. She took up this 

appointment on 1 March 2020. 

She attended local primary and 

secondary schools, before being 

admitted to Makerere University, 

Uganda’s largest and oldest public 

university. She graduated with a Bachelor 

of Commerce degree from there. Her 

second degree, a Master of Strategic 

Planning, was obtained from Heriot-Watt 

University Business School, in Edinburgh, 

Scotland, United Kingdom. Ms Juuko has 

also completed various professional 

courses and programmes 

in leadership and 

management. 

She started her banking career in 2001. For a 

period in the 2000s, she served as Vice President 

and Head of Fixed Income, Currencies and 

Commodities at Citibank Uganda Limited. She 

was then transferred to Citibank Kenya Limited, 

serving there as Vice President, Customer Sales 

and Derivatives Marketing, for two years, from June 

2010 until June 2012. 

AMAZONS|49


In 2012, she was hired by 

Standard Bank Group, as 

head of Global Markets 

for Stanbic Bank Uganda, 

serving in that capacity 

until December 2017. In 

January 2018, she took up 

a new appointment as 

Head of Corporate and 

Investment Banking at 

Standard Bank Namibia, 

a role she served in until 

February 2020. 

On 1 March 2020, Juuko 

replaced Patrick Mweheire, 

as CEO of Stanbic Bank 

Uganda, becoming the first 

female Ugandan to serve 

in this position. Mweheire 

was appointed Regional 

Chief Executive at Standard 

Bank Group, responsible for 

Ethiopia, Kenya, Tanzania, 

Uganda and South Sudan. 

As head of Global Markets, 

at Stanbic Bank Uganda, 

Juuko won the Primary 

Dealer of the Year award 

for 6 consecutive years. 

She is married to lawyer, 

Apollo Nelson Makubuya, 

a partner at MMAKS 

Advocates a commercial 

law firm in Kampala, 

Uganda. 

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NNEKA 

ONYEALI- 

IKPE 

Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe 

(born July 28, 1964) is 

a Nigerian business 

executive and 

banker. She is the first female 

managing director and chief 

executive officer of Fidelity 

Bank Nigeria 

Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe was born 

in Awka, Anambra State, in 

Eastern Nigeria. She also lived 

in Owerri, Imo State, where 

she studied at the Federal 

Government Girls’ College. 

She has a law degree from the 

University of Nigeria, Nsukka. 

She also has a master’s 

degree in Law from King’s 

College London. 

She started her banking 

career as a legal officer 

with the defunct African 

Continental Bank in 1990. She 

then joined the First African 

Trust Bank as a treasury 

officer. She later joined Zenith 

Bank and Standard Chartered 

Bank respectively. 

In 2011, she joined Enterprise 

Bank as an executive director 

of the bank’s operations in 

Lagos and other locations in 

the South-Western region in 

Nigeria. 

Onyeali-Ikpe joined the 

commercial bank Fidelity 

as an executive director in 

January, 2015. Fidelity Bank 

announced Onyeali-Ikpe 

as its managing director in 

December 2020. 

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ODUNAYO 

EWENIYI 

Odunayo 

Eweniyi is 

a Nigerian 

business 

executive and activist. 

She is the Co-founder 

and Chief Operations 

Officer PiggyVest and 

co founder of Feminist 

Coalition. 

Odun is the first child of 

two professors. She hails 

from Oyo State, Nigeria. 

She graduated from 

Covenant University in 

2013 with a first-class 

degree in Computer 

Engineering. Odun started 

out to launch Push CV 

with Somto Ifezue and 

Joshua Chibueze after 

her graduation in 2013. 

Two years later, the trio 

went on to start PiggyVest 

in 2016. 

In 2018, Odun won the 

Future Awards Africa Prize 

in Technology. In 2019, 

she was on Forbes Africa 

30 under 30 Technology 

list. She was named as 

one of 30 Quartz Africa 

Innovators for 2019. 

She was also on Forbes 

Africa’s list of 20 New 

Wealth Creators in Africa 

2019. She was nominated 

for The Future Awards 

Africa Prize for Young 

Person of The Year in 

2020. She Odun was also 

listed on Bloomberg 50 

2020. She was listed on 

Time 100 Next 2021 for her 

joint contributions during 

the End SARS protests of 

October 2020. In March 

2022, Odun won the 

Forbes Woman Africa 

Technology and 

Innovation Award. 

During the End SARS 

protests in 2020 against 

Nigerian police brutality, 

Eweniyi raised donations 

for medical care and 

legal support for victims 

of police brutality during 

and after the protests. 

In January 2021, Odunayo 

partnered with Eloho 

Oname to launch First 

Check, a platform of 

female business angels 

focused on supporting 

women led and women 

focused startups in Africa 

AMAZONS|53


ALICE 

BANZE 

Alice Banze, is a trained social 

scientist with a career in civil society 

organizations like Oxfam, and Gender 

Links and government. She is the 

Executive Director of Gender and 

Sustainable Development Association 

and a member of the UN Womensupported 

African Women Leaders 

Network. In December 2020, Banze 

was elected member of the National 

Elections Commission with the support 

of the Women’s Forum, an umbrella 

grouping of Mozambican women’s 

rights organizations. 

Alice Banze was born and raised in 

Maputo, Mozambique. Banze attained 

a Diploma in Social Science from the 

Francisco Mayanga Secondary School. 

She then pursued a Bachelors Degree 

in Law from the Eduardo Modlane 

University. Banze has a Degree in Social 

Sciences from Eduardo Mondlane and 

Pretoria University. She has undergone 

further training in research skills, 

methods and methodologies on the 

Feminization of Poverty Research 

project as a partner investigator 

at The Centre of Research Studies, 

Canberra Australia and also Strategic 

Planning and Change Management at 

Regenesys Business School at Sandton, 

South Africa. 

Banze served as the National 

Coordinator of the Austrian North- 

South Institute for Development 

Cooperation between 1997 and 2000. 

She then worked with Oxfam in various 

capacities. First serving as the Gender 

and Advocacy Coordinator between 

2001 and 2007, she was then assigned 

to work as the Regional Gender Service 

Coordinator still with Oxfam, a role 

she has served in from 2007. She has 

also served as the Acting Gender 

Justice and Governance Lead, Pan 

African Program at Oxfam from 2011. 

Banze was the Gender, Environment 

and Climate Change Advisor to the 

Minister of Environment in Mozambique, 

implementing the Gender, Environment 

and Climate Change Strategy with 

focus on empowerment of women 

and communities on the best way 

of use of Natural Resources to adapt 

to the Climate Change negative 

impacts. Banze is the Lusophone 

Executive Director for Gender Links, 

managing Angola and Mozambique 

Lusophone Countries. Banze resigned 

three days after being appointed the 

Spokesperson for the National Elections 

Commission (CNE). 

Banze is one of the authors of the 

Southern African Development 

Community (SADC) Gender Protocol 

2014 and Barometer as she is the 

Mozambique Country Barometer 

Author. She also co-edited The African 

Women’s Protocol: Harnessing a 

Potential Force for Positive Change with 

Rose Gawaya, a book by Rosemary 

Semufumu Mukasa. 

Most of the work that Banze has focused 

on has been majorly centered around 

Gender Equality. She has done this by 

training numerous women leadership 

roles as well as advocating for equal 

representation of women in all spheres 

in her country. She has also worked on 

the equality of Women Rights 

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SAMIA SULUHU 

HASSAN 

President of Tanzania Samia 

Suluhu Hassan faces a 

mammoth challenge in 

managing – and many hope, 

reversing – her predecessor’s 

legacy, especially Covid-19 

denialism. 

Samia Suluhu Hassan is the very 

first and only vice-president in 

Tanzania. She is the second vice 

president in East Africa after 

Speciosa Wandira-Kazibwe who 

served between 1994 and 2003 

in Uganda. She was the running 

mate of John Pombe Magufuli 

who clinched the presidency 

in 2015. Previously, she served 

as the member of parliament 

representing Makunduchi 

Constituency. In addition to this, 

Samia also served as a minister 

in various dockets in Zanzibar 

and Tanzania 

AMAZONS|56


HANNA 

TETTEH 

Hanna Tetteh has served in 

many government positions 

in Ghana. The peak of her 

achievements was her 

appointment in 2013 as Minister 

of Foreign Affairs by President 

Dramani Mahama. Additionally, 

she has a background in law 

and is therefore well versed in 

her duties. She is also perfect in 

showing the world the leadership 

material she possesses. For 

these reasons, she is a darling to 

the public in Ghana. 

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WINNIE 

BYANYIMA 

Winnie Byanyima is one of the African women leaders that 

are relentlessly fighting for human and women’s rights. 

Her fight against poverty is inspirational too. As a result of 

her competencies, she has been serving as the executive 

director of Oxfam International which is a global humanitarian relief 

organization. Previously, the served as a member of parliament in 

Uganda for 11 years. Additionally, she has the capacity to professionally 

shift gears from diplomacy, aeronautical engineering and politics. 

AMAZONS|59


MARTHA 

KARUA 

Martha Karua is known as the “Iron Lady” of Kenya due to her 

no-nonsense approach to leadership, politics and activism. 

She is one of the pioneer female legislators in the East 

Africa leading economy. As a lawyer by profession, Karua 

has made immense contributions to family law in Kenya. She came 

to political limelight in 1992 when she was first elected as member of 

parliament for Gichugu constituency. During her time in politics, she 

served as a minister in the ministries of Justice and Constitutional 

Affairs as well as Water Resources Management. Her last attempts 

at presidency and later gubernatorial positions were unsuccessful. 

However, she remains a force to reckon with in Kenyan politics 

AMAZONS|60


NKOSAZANA 

DLAMINI-ZUMA 

Nkosazana Clarice 

Dlamini-Zuma is a 

South Africa politician 

and apartheid activist. 

She has served as government 

minister in many dockets 

including the current Minister in 

the Presidency for the National 

Planning Commission for Policy 

and Evaluation. Popularly known 

as NDZ, Nkosazana served as 

Minister of Foreign Affairs under 

president Mandela, Mbeki and 

Motlanthe. When her former 

husband of 16 years Zuma took 

over as president, he moved her 

to Home Affairs. She has served in 

the AU and harbored dreams of 

un-sitting Zuma as the President 

of the National Congress. this 

dream was put on hold by Cyril 

Ramaphosa. 

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AMINA 

MOHAMMED 

Amina has served in the top ranks in the United Nations. Her 

job is to ensure that the African child, both boy and girl have 

everything they need to make their dreams come true. Before 

taking up the UN job, Amina served as Minister of Environment 

of Nigeria. She also previously worked closely with the president of 

Nigeria to realize the Millennium Development Goals. Her contributions 

to African leadership and development is immense and spans many 

years. 

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FATMA 

SAMOURA 

Fatma proves to the world that every job can be done by any 

gender. She is the highest-ranking women in the Fédération 

Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) governing body. 

She is the first woman to attain the rank in FIFA as secretarygeneral, 

and is doing a great job which has, in turn, motivated even the 

younger women to achieve goals that previously proved impossible. 

Forbes named her as number one in the Most Powerful Women in 

International Sports in 2018. Additionally, the BBC recognized her as 

one of their 100 women. 

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LOUISE 

MUSHIKIWAA 

Louise is an African woman leader that is doing great things. 

One of her achievements is her role as secretary-general 

of the International Organisation of La Francophonie (OIF). 

She has successfully done the job of bringing together 58 

countries and regional governments hence ensuring that there is 

a peaceful coexistence among the people. Previously, she was the 

Foreign Affairs and Cooperation minister. Before that, she was the 

minister of information. Additionally, she also served as the Rwandan 

Government Spokesperson. 

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JOYCE 

HILDA 

BANDA 

Joyce Banda was the president of Malawi from 2012 to 2014. She 

founded and led the People’s Party in 2011. Prior to becoming the 

fourth president of Malawi she was the immediate former vicepresident 

of the country. For these reasons, Banda broke two 

important records in Malawi and Africa of serving as the first female 

vice-president and president. Her leadership and contributions to the 

development of her country and Africa is immense. this is because 

she also served in ministerial positions, as a philanthropic and activist 

AMAZONS|65


SAHLE-WORK 

ZEWDE 

Sahle-Work Zewde recently entered the rank of transformational 

African women leaders by being the only female head of 

state in Africa currently. This iconic African woman looks to 

change the view of the political scene. She shows the world 

that any gender can occupy any leadership position. She also looks 

to empower women to set foot in the political scene. Zewde was also 

the first woman to receive an appointment to head the United Nations 

Office to the African Union 

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Saara Kuugongelwa- 

Ahmadhila is the current 

Prime Minister of the 

Republic of Namibia. She 

also doubles up as the only female 

head of government of Africa. She 

entered into politics when she 

received an appointment as the 

Director General of the National 

Planning Commission at the age 

of 27 in 1995. The Right Honorable 

also served as a minister for 

finance in 2003. 

SAARA 

KUUGONGELWA- 

AHMADHILA 

AMAZONS|67


ALENGOT 

OROMAIT 

Alengot Oromait is one of the youngest 

African women leaders more so, in the 

political scene that is very passionate 

about health policy, the environment, 

and gender issues. She has been 

recognized by Forbes as Top 20 Power 

Women in Africa. She became legislator 

at age 19, making her the youngest 

in African history. Alengot rose out of 

the obscurity after her father, Michael 

Oromait, died of hypertension on the 

morning of Saturday July 21, 2016. She 

succeeded him as MP for Usuk County. 

She beat eight other candidates vying 

for the seat, earning more than double 

the votes of the nearest runner-up. 

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MBALI NTULI 

Mbali Ntuli is one of Africa’s youngest female leaders having 

ventured into politics at a very young age back at her 

University. Her political efforts saw her being elected as a 

ward Councillor. Like many other African women leaders, 

she faced a lot of violence and intimidation, but that did not stop her 

from making the political scene friendly for women. 

AMAZONS|69


DIANE SHIMA 

RWIGARA 

Diane Rigwara is one of the African women leaders who is 

very vocal when it comes to women’s rights. Rigwara has 

tirelessly fought against bad governance, oppression 

and many other forms of injustices despite the constant 

intimidation by the government. Her dreams of running for president 

has encountered all sorts of resistance including being accused of 

indecency. 

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EJIRO OSAKEDE 

Ejiro Osakede popularly known as THE ENERGETIC EJ is a woman of 

many expressions. She’s an Author, Singer, Trainer, Sound Engineer, 

Voice Over Artist, Podcaster and Show Host. 

She is an audiobook creator for African authors, with works from notable 

authors like Edirin Edewor’s Amazon Bestselling book ‘The Productivity 

Checklist’, Amaka Azie’s ‘My Sister’s Bestie’, Adewale Richard’s ‘Three 

things the gospel project’, Books by Dr Stephen Akintayo and more. 

She is dedicated to training and supporting Audiobook producers and 

narrators by creating content and courses that help them thrive in 

their craft. 

She is the convener of THE BECOMING SUMMIT- an initiative to awaken 

in the young generation (Ages 18 -35) a desire to BE a better version of 

themselves, i.e being fit for their purpose and has reached Africa, 

Europe and Asia, spanning several countries across these continents. 

Ejiro is a Master Storyteller and her Podcast, ‘Stretch Street Podcast’ 

focuses on documenting the stretch stories of individuals globally to 

draw life lessons and inspire the younger generation. 

She is the author of two amazing books titled PODCASTING WITH A 

DIFFERENCE foreword by John Obidi & THE ULTIMATE YOUTUBE LIVE 

STREAMING GUIDE foreword by Edirin Edewor 

She is a super-connector and an inspiration to many across the globe. 

AMAZONS|72


DOROTHY 

NKHOMA 

SHONGA 

Director Palmontt SA Malawi & Mozambique 

Dorothy Shonga is a popular award winning Malawian - 

Ugandan Businesswoman. Her portfolio encompasses 

construction, energy, water and sanitation, marketing, 

public relations and business consulting services. Her work 

extends to philanthropy and Humanitarian assistance through her 

foundation “DOROTHY SHONGA FOUNDATION “. She is also a fashion 

and entertainment industry investor as well as A GBV and women 

empowerment advocate. 

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EZINNE OKORO 

Ezinne Okoro is an accomplished Entreprenuer and Architect. She 

currently serves as the CEO of Charez Foods limited, and The COO of 

Webskreen Visuals. 

Ezinne’s career spans accross several industries including Construction, 

Banking and Finance, Retail, Sales and Management. 

Before venturing into enterprenuership, Ezinne served in different 

capacities within many companies. She started as Junior teller at 

Diamond Bank and grew to become a mid level manager from 2008- 

2015. She also pioneered the First Banks Financial inclusion program, 

FirstMonie, in Abuja, from 2015 to 2018. 

Ezinne played a key role in Nigeria’s participation at the Dubai 2020 Expo 

under the umbrella of the Nigeria-Arabian gilf chamber of commerce. 

She serves as the secretary, in a Not For Profit organisation, Pat Mgbo 

Initiative for Orphans and Vulnerable Children (PMI). 

She enjoys supporting community projects that focus on education, 

peace and reconciliation, youth and women empowerment. 

Ezinne Okoro is a graduate of Abia State University in Nigeria where she 

obtained a Bachelors degree in Architecture, and and Masters degree in 

Urban design. 

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110 OUTSTANDING WOMEN IN AFRICA 2022| THE NEW AFRICA MAGAZINE

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