The women's month comes to a close in a few days time and The African Manner recognizes the most powerful and influential women from the African continent. These outstanding ladies have demonstrated that sharp social skills, good manners, etiquette and diplomacy are vital for professional growth and career advancement.
"Celebrating accomplished African women in different industries will help inspire and motivate girls to dream big. Having role models who represent them, will help girls become women who are confident of their place in the world." Global Citizen
There are so many women that are changing the status quo, from Cape to Cairo, from Zambezi to Limpopo and in some cases, globally. Celebrating women and recording their stories is one form of action that supports the United Nations Global Goal 5 for gender equality.
Below are three trailblazing African queens from acros the continent that #choosetochallenge and one is confident that young girls can learn a lot from their good stories:
1. Fatma Samoura - Senegal 🇸🇳
After her United Nations career in Rome, as a senior logistics officer with the World Food Programme in 1995, Fatma Samoura served as Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator in seven countries; Republic of Djibouti, Cameroon, Chad, Guinea, Niger, Madagascar and Nigeria.
In her Humanitarian career with the United Nations that spanned 21 years, Ms. Samoura managed to initiate and lead several development and humanitarian programmes across the globe. Countries in Africa, Asia, Latin America and Europe have all benefited from her sharp skills in Programme and Operations Management.
Ms. Samoura's leadership and vision has helped empower women and youth, change lives and protect the environment. With significant experience in complex development, socio-economic, political and security situations Fatma Samoura has helped countries to respond to various socio-political, economic, humanitarian, security and Human Rights challenges.
Ms. Samoura is smart, kind, friendly and down-to-earth and because of her dignified character, she has been able to make a difference to millions of people through her work in the United Nations and stepped in to her role at FIFA to help change the world through football as the first-ever female Secretary-General of the world football's governing body.
2. Dambisa Moyo - Zambia🇿🇲
Dr. Dambisa Moyo is a respected global economist with unique perspectives. Her balance of contrarian thinking with measured judgement and her ability to turn economic insights into investible ideas makes her a pre-eminent thinker.
Dr. Moyo's work has taken her to over sixty-five countries. Her work focuses on the global economy, geopolitics and financial markets. The Time Magazine named Dambisa one of the "100 Most Influential People in the World".
The Zambian economist projects excellent ethical behaviour and good morals, no wonder why she is a global influencer and author of four New York Times Bestselling books. Dambisa has vast experience in debt capital markets, hedge funds coverage and global macroeconomics.
Moyo worked at the World Bank before joining Goldman Sachs as a research economist and strategist from 2001 to 2008. She is a recipient of several awards and honors and at the age of 52, Dr. Moyo holds a bachelor's degree in Chemistry and an MBA from the American University. Dambisa also obtained a Master of Public Administration from Harvard Kennedy School and a DPhil in Economics from Oxford University. Her background and accomplishments continue to inspire millions of girls around the world.
3. Ngozi Okonjo-lweala- Nigeria 🇳🇬
Apart from the Zambian economist, Ngozi Okonjo-lweala is a Nigerian economist and the first African and the first woman to serve as the Director General of the World Trade Organisation, (WTO). Now, only well groomed professionals that understand international protocol and diplomacy, respect other people's codes of behaviour and tolerate differences can be trusted to hold such global offices and serve the entire planet.
Many young girls who are gifted in the subjects of accounting, finance and economics have no choice but to emulate what Director Ngozi has managed to achieve in her 66 years of existence. She is a history maker and the world is confident that an African will deal with international trade negotiations better than anyone else.
Despite recently taking out US citizenship, she revels in being Nigerian and she is fiercely patriotic- flaunting her African identity in her African-print outfits. During her interview on BBC HardTalk, Ngozi Okonjo-lweala pointed out that, the WTO needed reforms and it cannot be business as usual.
One of her greatest achievements was leading a team which negotiated a whopping $18billion debt write-off for Nigeria, helping the country obtain its first ever sovereign debt rating. Her economic reforms had a far-reaching impact, including de-linking the budget from the oil price, allowing the country to save money in a special account when oil prices were high.
Mrs. Okonjo-lweala spent twenty-five years at the World Bank, rising to the number two position as managing director from 2007 to 2011. She is the first woman to serve as Nigeria's Finance Minister for two terms. Okonjo-lweala is a board member of Standard Chartered Bank, Twitter and the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization. Her latest appointment to the summit of the WTO came in the special month of March and we wish Ngozi Okonjo-lweala all the very best in her new journey of global leadership.
"Women are taking over and reshaping history, they are closing inequalities and pioneering new avenues of wealth creation and in turn lifting others with them and doing wonders together."
@stajicesimmz
