VENTURES AFRICA – Typically, women in Africa have been seen as homemakers or agriculturalists, yet a new breed of empowered women across the continent have managed to forage a way in business, whether through family connections, governmental patronage or sheer entrepreneurship. Below, Tom Jackson profiles the ten richest females on the continent.

Mama Ngina Kenyatta

The widow of Kenya’s first president, Jomo Kenyatta, the former glamorous “mother of the nation” now leads a quiet, reclusive life away from the spotlight. Yet though she is not to be found on any African rich list, she has fabulous, mostly undeclared, wealth.

Mama Ngina, now 79, has gained huge respect from the Kenyan public for her defence and promotion of the family’s business interests. The Kenyatta family has investments in banking, education, farming, hospitality, insurance, manufacturing and real estate, though its presiding matriarch keeps a low profile.

Having stuck by Kenyatta even during his detention by the British colonial government, and defended the family’s business interests since his death in 1978, Mama Ngina now oversees a serious portfolio of brands and investments, including the largest privately owned Kenyan bank, the Commercial Bank of Africa (CBA), and the upmarket hotel chain Heritage. Brookside Dairies, East Africa’s leader in the dairy field with market share reaching from the region to the Middle East is another part of a vast investments empire which also includes media firm Media Max and Timsales Timber.

The latest move is in real estate, where Mama Ngina runs the rule over the construction of the 500-acre Northlands City, which will be the largest upmarket gated community in the region. Though alleged to have been involved with ivory smuggling in the 1970s, she is also engaged in many philanthropic activities. She has never revealed the full extent of her investments.

Isabel Dos Santos

Dos Santos, 39, is the oldest daughter of Angolan President José Eduardo dos Santos. The millionaire businesswoman is estimated to be worth over $50 million, with interests in oil and diamonds. She also has shares in Angolan cement company Ciminvest and the Banco Africano de Investimentos.

She is worth $170 million.

She originally made her mark in business at the age of 24 by using her father’s patronage to gain lucrative state contracts. She has fostered close business ties with Portugal, with her Maltese-registered investment firm holding a ten per cent stake in Portuguese media conglomerate Zon Multimedia. She also owns major stakes in Portuguese banks Banco Espírito Santo and Banco Português de Investimento, and in energy firm Energias de Portugal.

Hajia Bola Shagaya

The richest Nigerian businesswoman, Bola Shagaya has retained links with important figures in various administrations up to the present day and now enjoys a status as a queen of luxury. With interests in oil, banking, communications and photography, she has now also made steps into real estate, building hundreds of town houses for which renters pay $180,000 per year.

Owning properties in Europe and America, she has become one of the biggest players in the lucrative Nigerian oil sector. She is Group Managing Director/CEO of Bolmus Group International and a board member of Unity Bank Plc, while she has served on numerous board committees and currently sits on the board for the National Economic Partnership for Africa Development (NEPAD), a Nigerian business group. With over 24 years of active local and international business experience, she had participated in many local and international seminars and workshops, including the Harvard Business School to keep abreast of developments in management techniques.

Folorunso Alakija

Alakija is a 61-year-old Nigerian billionaire fashion designer and Executive Director of FAMFA Oil, the gas and oil exploration and production company.

After studying fashion design in the UK, she founded her fashion house Supreme Stitches in Nigeria in 1985 in Lagos, becoming the best designer in the country by 1986. Through a friend she became involved in the oil business, being allocated an unwanted oil bloc which later struck oil in commercial quantities and made Alakija’s fortune. This was achieved due to a hook-up with Texaco, which later became Chevron, in 1996.

She later became a more religious individual and now donates a lot of time and money to her Rose of Sharon Foundation, which provides interest free loans to start-up businesses.

Wendy Appelbaum

The only daughter of South African billionaire Donald Gordon, Appelbaum became a director of her father’s insurance and real estate firm Liberty Investors. Upon selling her shares she made her own personal fortune. Previously she was the Deputy Chairman of Women’s Investment Portfolio Limited (Wiphold), the first women’s controlled company to list on the Johannesburg Securities Exchange with then assets in excess of R1 billion. Moneyweb calls her the wealthiest woman in Africa.

In tandem with her husband Hylton, she used these funds to purchase DeMorgenzon, a wine estate in the famous wine region of Stellenbosch. She has in total donated US$23 million to found the Gordon Institute of Business Science and the Donald Gordon Medical Centre, in memory of her father, while she also chairs the South African Women’s Professional Golfers’ Association.

Wendy Appelbaum’s net worth as of early 2012 is estimated at $259.3 million.

Wendy Ackerman

Retail tycoon Ackerman is worth $190.2 million, with the Ackerman Family Trust run by her and her husband owning about 50 per cent of the major South African grocery chain Pick ‘n’ Pay. The $3 billion company owns outlets in Mozambique, Nigeria, Namibia, Zambia, Zimbabwe and Australia, with Ackerman acting as Executive Director.

Bridget Radebe

The founder of Mmakau Mining, the successful mining firm with assets in gold, platinum, uranium, coal, chrome and exploration, Radebe started out by working in mines herself. Now the president of the South African Mining Development Association, she is the older sister of South African billionaire Patrice Motsepe and married to South Africa Justice Minister Jeff Radebe.

She was the first black woman in the country to found her own mining company, overcoming racial and gender prejudice. While her net worth is large, it is currently not published. Radebe received the International Businessperson of the Year Award in 2008 from the Global Foundation for Democracy.

Sharon Wapnick

Worth $43.1 million, Wapnick is one of the largest individual shareholders in listed loan stock companies Octodec Investments and Premium Properties, which were both founded by her father Alec. She is also a partner at TWB Attorneys, a Johannesburg-based commercial law firm. Her fortune was made in investments and real estate.

As of October 2011, Wapnick stepped into the role of non-executive chairman of Octodec, replacing her father. An attorney, she also has a wealth of experience in the property industry.

Elisabeth Bradley

Bradley, whose father Albert Wessels brought Toyota to South Africa in 1961, enjoys a net worth of $32 million as a result of her investments portfolio. In 2008, Wesco Investments, the holding company that she chairs, sold its 25 percent stake in Toyota South Africa to Japan’s Toyota Motor Corp for $320 million, with Bradley pocketing at least $150 million.

As well as remaining chairman of Wesco Investments, she is also vice-chairman of Toyota South Africa Limited, a director of AngloGold and board member at blue chip companies such as Standard Bank Group, Hilton Hotel and Roseback Inn.

Irene Charnley

Charnley, 52, is a former trade unionist who has amassed a net worth of $150 million. Currently the CEO of Smile Telecoms, a telecommunications products company working out of Mauritius, she first made a mark as a negotiator for the National Union of Mineworkers in South Africa. Later she became Executive Director at MTN, Africa’s largest teleco.

At MTN she led the company’s expansion across Africa and beyond, helping to acquire licences from Nigeria to Iran. She was as a result rewarded with MTN stock worth $150 million, though she left the company under controversial circumstances in 2007. She has also been a director of FirstRand Bank, Johnnic and Johnnic Communications.

Her current company, Smile Telecoms, helps lower-income individuals to have telecommunications and continues a line of anti-poverty programs Charnley began at MTN.

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“You have to think fast in business. If someone asks – Are you selling your blouse? Sell it!
You can always buy another one. The first day I opened my shop, I only had five bunches of roses.
My first customer didn’t see the flowers I had – all he saw was water. So he asked me: Are you selling water? I told him – Yes! That 20 cents he gave me was my first income. You have to be brave. You have to be aggressive. Don’t be embarrassed.” - DINAH BINAH, FLORIST, TANZANIA

VENTURES AFRICA - With incredible business savvy, determination and resilience, many African women have succeeded in creating a name for themselves. Whether they achieved by moving up the ranks of the corporate world, through entrepreneurial innovation or fighting for social justice, these 20 Women represent the most powerful of the African business cohort across various industries.

Like Dinah, each woman’s remarkable achievement is the result of a combination of many elements: identifying and maximising opportunities, striving for excellence in everything and a refusal to turn from their vision. Maybe you’re just starting out in your career; perhaps you are 30 years deep, let something from these women drive you to be the absolute best in whatever you do – be it creating floral masterpieces or brokering contracts worth millions.

Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita (South Africa) CEO ArcelorMittal

As the Chief Executive Officer of ArcelorMittal SA, Nonkululeko leads the South African branch of the global steel manufacturer which is the largest producer of steel on the African continent, a position requiring steely determination. Prior to this, she served as the Chief Officer in charge of Mergers and Acquisitions in the Vodacom Company.

Siza Mzimela (South Africa) CEO South African Airways, Oprah Winfrey Academy

Siza Mzimela was appointed in 2010 as the first female Chief Executive Officer of South African Airways. After joining the company in 1996 as a Research Analyst, Siza moved up the ranks to assume her current position while garnering recognition for her work in tourism. She serves on the Oprah Winfrey Leadership Academy board and was a finalist for 2002 Nedbank Businesswoman of the Year award.

Isabel Dos Santos (Angola) President’s daughter, oil, diamonds and media

First daughter of Jose Eduardo dos Santos, President of Angola, Isabel Dos Santos has made her mark as perhaps the most powerful and richest woman in her country. Deftly using family influence and financial backing by her father, she started her own business. Through strategic investing, she currently has holdings in diamond trading industry, media, retail and energy both in Angola and Portugal.

Mamphele Ramphele (South Africa) CEO Circle Capital Partners, former MD of World Bank

Former Managing Director of the World Bank group, Mamphele is a renowned academic and businesswoman. She has succeeded in her work as a medical doctor and anti-apartheid activist and she now sits on the board for the Rockefeller Foundation in New York, Mo Ibrahim Foundation, rewarding good governance in Africa and leads Circle Capital Ventures, a Black Economic Empowerment Private Equity firm.

Bridgette Radebe (South Africa) Founder and Chairman Mmakau (Platinum, coal, chrome gold)

Bridgette Radebe, elder sister of South African Billionaire Patrice Motsepe, wields great power in the mining industry. She founded and runs Mmakau Mining with investments in platinum, gold, coal and chrome. She is the nation’s first black female mining entrepreneur and serves as the President of the South African Mining Development Association and was awarded the International Business Person of the Year Award in 2008 from Global Foundation for Democracy.

Dr Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria) World Bank, Minister of Finance, Co-Founder Makeda fund

Well-known for her role as the Managing Director, World Bank and her part in shaking up Nigeria’s finances, Dr Ngozi has returned to her country as the current Minister of Finance and leader of President Jonathan’s economic team. She continues to work towards economic reform and investing in capital projects with the aim of reducing Nigeria’s high unemployment rates. She founded the Makeda Fund, investing in helping African women entrepreneurs.

Folake Folarin-Coker (Nigeria) CEO, Fashion designer, Tiffany Amber

Responsible for revolutionising the Nigerian fashion industry in 1998, Folake started the Tiffany Amber brand. Every collection created pays respect to her African heritage blended with the influence of her childhood spent in Europe. The Tiffany Amber collections have received wide acclaim in the global fashion industry, showing in fashion weeks in Lagos, London, Paris and South Africa. She is the first African designer to have shown at New York fashion week twice.

Dolly Mokgatle (South Africa) CEO Peotona Group Holdings Ltd and Thandi Orleyn (South Africa) Co-Founder, Peotona Group Holdings Ltd; Lawyer

Dolly and Thandi co-founded Peotona Capital, an innovative women’s investment company with stakes in De Beers, South Africa, the world’s top diamond miner as well as holdings in Lafarge, one of South Africa’s cement makers. Prior to this Dolly served as the CEO of Spoornet, a heave freight rail company and has set up and continues to support numerous women’s initiatives. Thandi is a highly qualified lawyer and expert on labour and employment matters.

Iman Abdulmajid (Somalia) Founder and CEO Iman cosmetics

Somali-born former supermodel Iman is best known for her high-profile modelling career and beautiful cosmetics created for women of colour. During her 14 years of modelling and TV appearances, Iman mixed her own products to match her skin tone and after retiring she started the self-named cosmetics brand to fill that gap. As of 2010, Iman Cosmetics is a $25 million a year business.

Joyce Banda (Malawi) Country Vice-President, CEO, Joyce Banda Foundation and National Association of Business Women

Joyce Banda has had a long and successful business and political career. Prior to her role as the current vice-president of Malawi, she was the founder and CEO of Joyce Banda Foundation, focused on improving educational opportunities to children and orphans and micro-credit to poor women. She also founded the National Association of Business Women to empower women economically. She received the United Nations Population Fund International Award for the Health and Dignity of Women in 2006 and the African Woman Development Fund Woman of Substance award in 2010.

Adenike Ogunlesi (Nigeria) Founder, CEO Ruff n Tumble

After dropping out of undergraduate Law program at the Ahmadu Bello University, Zaria in Nigeria, Adenike joined a tiny tailoring shop as the second member of staff, after her mother. In this shop, she found her calling and in 1996, her entrepreneurial spirit. She began selling the clothes she made from a suitcase and eventually turned Ruff N’ Tumble into a widely recognisable children’s brand across West Africa. She was featured in the documentary, Africa Open for Business and named the 2005 FATE Foundation Model Entrepreneur.

Maria Ramos (South Africa) Group CEO, Absa Group Bank

From her former role as Director General of South Africa’s National Treasury, Maria later became the CEO of the Barclays Bank subsidiary, Absa, a role in which she has excelled till date, raising the group profits significantly even through trying financial times.

Linah Mohohlo (Botswana) Governor, Bank of Botswana

Linah Mohohlo has served as the Governor of the Bank of Botswana since 1999, following 23 years in other areas within the bank. She has also worked as International Monetary Fund Special Appontee and been a member of the International Monetary and Financial Committee. An eminent academic, she has published several papers, books and chapters in the field of economics, reserves management and governance. She is the recipient of Botswana’s highest public service award, Presidential Order of Honour.

These trailblazing women have opened the door for a younger generation of African power women. The next six women represent increasingly the next generation of African women taking the mantle in business.

Susan Mashibe (Tanzania) Founder and Executive Director TanJet Aviation

At 29, Susan Mashibe returned to her home of Tanzania to start up TanJet in 2002, a company offering logistical support for company, diplomatic and private jets. Her clients include Heads of State, monarchs, celebrities and corporate gurus. She has received numerous awards and was honoured as 2011 Young Global Leader by World Economic Forum.

Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu (Ethiopia) Founder and Managing Director, soleRebels

Bethlehem brought the soleRebels brand to life in 2004 in an attempt to create jobs in her community in Ethiopia. By innovatively fusing artisan skills and entrepreneurial wisdom, she has created a globally recognisable brand that produces excellent fair trade shoes sold and distributed in more than 30 countries around the world.

Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria) Author

According to her, Chimamanda began writing as soon as she could spell. She published her first book of poetry in 1997 and released her first novel, Purple Hibiscus, in 2003 to wide critical acclaim. She is the recipient of many awards including the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best first book (2005). She is working to pass on her expertise and vision by teaching writing workshops in Nigeria.

Khanyi Dhlomo (South Africa) CEO, Editor, Destiny Magazine, Destiny Man

Through a combination of wit, passion for media and good luck, Khanyi Dhlomo has positioned herself as a leader in the South African media industry. At 22 she was appointed Editor of True Love magazine and succeeded in doubling circulation within her first year. She acquired an MBA from Harvard University and set up her own company, Ndalo Media, a joint venture with the publishing arm of South Africa’s largest media company. Destiny Magazine, Destiny Man and DestinyConnect.com are the successful products of Ndalo.

Isis Nyongo (Kenya) Managing Director, InMobi Africa

Isis was appointed Vice President and Managing Director of InMobi, the world’s largest independent mobile advertising network in 2011. She is well-suited to the task of driving the company’s business strategy for Africa having previously led the African business development initiatives for Google. A graduate of Stanford University and Harvard Business School, Isis has been instrumental in driving the launch of MTV networks and setting up Kenya’s first online recruitment service, MyJobsEye.

Magatte Wade (Senegal) CEO, Adina World Beat Beverages

Who knew a business could be based on the Hibiscus flower? Magatte Wade co-founded Adina World Beat Beverages in 2004, a manufacturing company based on a simple, sustainable, fair-trade model relying on manufacturing and products from Africa. Their beverages include herbal drinks, organic coffees and teas sold across the US. Her company supports the Quality Biological Agriculture Cooperative (QABCOO), a group of Senegalese women earn a living producing the traditional hibiscus drink. Adina’s annual revenues are reported to be over $3million by UNDP.

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By Folake Soetan

Graça Machel is a most remarkable woman. In her career spanning over four decades, she is best known for her work in education and child development. Uniquely, she is also the only woman to be the First Lady of two different countries! Mozambique and more recently, South Africa.

Yet her work and achievements began long before assuming her role as Mozambique’s First Lady. Graça was born in rural Mozambique during the era of Portuguese colonialism. She attended Methodist mission schools in Mozambique and for her academic excellence she received a scholarship to study at University of Lisbon, Portugal. She became fluent in English, French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese and Tsonga, her native language. It was at university that Graça became involved in the independence struggle.

She moved back to Mozambique in 1973 and joined the Mozambique Liberation Front party (FRELIMO) to fight for the nation’s independence, which was eventually won in 1975. Graça’s work as the Minister for Education and Culture began. During her tenure, she succeeded in raising primary school enrolment in the nation to over 80 per cent of school-age children, double the original enrolment, an incredible achievement in line with Millennium Development Goals. She also married Samora Machel, Mozambique’s first president. He was eventually killed in a plane crash in 1986.

Mozambique, like many African nations, went through significant political turbulence over the years with intense conflict between the ruling party and opposition, supported by external governments. This created an environment where children and women were increasingly devastated by war and its effects. In response to the destruction caused by the conflict, Graça Machel became the President of Foundation of Community Development and Chairperson of the National Organisation of Children of Mozambique, an organisation that places orphaned children in village homes. Her national success led to her appointment as the President of the National Commission of UNESCO in Mozambique and a host of other international positions.

Most touching perhaps, is her work as the leading expert on the UN Report on the Impact of Armed Conflict on Children. From war-torn Sudan to post-conflict Congo, every African has been touched directly or indirectly by war and its effects. Graça travelled to various sites including Angola, Lebanon, Rwanda, Sierra Leone and former Yugoslavia to research the lives of those most affected by war, especially women and children, in an attempt to accurately tell their stories and mobilise the political will to empower them. In her own words:

“I have spoken to a child who was raped by soldiers when she was just nine years old. I have witnessed the anguish of a mother who saw her children blown to pieces by land-mines in their fields, just when she believed they had made it home safely after the war. I have listened to children forced to watch while their families were brutally slaughtered. I have heard the bitter remorse of 15-year-old ex-soldiers mourning their lost childhood and innocence, and I have been chilled listening to children who have been so manipulated by adults and so corrupted by their experiences of conflict that they could not recognize the evil of which they had been a part.” (UN Report on Impact of Armed Conflict on Children, 1994: Personal note)

Moving words from a passionate woman. It is my private belief that no one can engage in such work and not be irrevocably changed. Whether negotiating in politics or in fighting for the rights of women and children, Graça’s purpose remains unchanged, “It is the meaning of what my life has been since a youth – to try to fight for the dignity and the freedom of my own people.” (BBC Profile)

She has since continued to work on many issues of child rights and development as well as empowering African women. Her recent activities include leading the New Faces, New Voices (NFNV) network of African professional women in business and finance, who are working with African Development Bank to promote financial-inclusion agendas, a way of making funds accessible to female entrepreneurs in Africa. She has received numerous awards for her work including the 1992 Africa Prize, 1995 Nansen Medal from the United Nations for her work on behalf of refugee children and the Global Citizen Award of the New England Circle in 1997. She is also the first African woman to be conferred with Dame Commander of the Order of the British Empire (DBE) award and a member of The Elders, a group of global leaders committed to working together for peace and human rights.

Graça Machel is indeed a remarkable woman. Her contributions to her country and to African children and women as a whole continue till today. In 1998, she married the well-loved former president of South Africa, Nelson Mandela becoming the first and only woman to serve as First Lady of two nations. She continues to spend time in both South Africa and Mozambique.

Telling this one woman’s story is actually a telling of the stories of millions of women, each one touched by Graça. By employing the power of social change and entrepreneurship, she continues to change lives today. A firm believer in every individual’s value and ability to bring about change, Graça Machel’s charge to us from the 1994 report was, and still is “ask yourself what you can do to make a difference. And then take that action, no matter how large or how small.”

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VENTURES AFRICA - Young and elegant, the likes of Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu, Ory Okolloh, Kirsty Conventry, Chimanamda Adichie, Nima EL Bagir and many others have broken out from the shell of their respective dreams to become Africa’s most inspiring young women. These are individuals who have launched or established change-making initiatives that have matured into profound influence among their contemporaries. Arranged alphabetically, each from 10 selected African countries; here are some of the most sought-after African women under the age of 40 years. From their little corner, they dared to venture out to become the epitome of modern African young woman.

As the world mark International Women’s Day today, we hope young Africans home and abroad will find these figures inspiring and be spurred into achieving their set dreams as well!

Meet the pacesetters:

Ethiopia – Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu – Entrepreneur

Chosen as one of the 2012 New York City Venture fellows, Bethlehem was born and brought up in a rural town in Adisa-Ababa, Ethiopia. She is an Adisa-Ababa based eco-friendly footwear maker who transformed the skills of people living in her local community into a sustainable enterprise with over a hundred staff. The founder and Managing Director of SoleRebels is a recipient of the Most Valuable Entrepreneur Award held in 2011 at the Global Entrepreneur Week in Ethiopia. The World Economic Forum also recognized Bethlehem as a Young Global Leader in 2011. Last year, she held the Most Outstanding Businesswoman of the Year Award at the annual Africa Business Awards by the African Business Magazine.

Ghana – Lisa Opoku- Entrepreneur

She will be 40 this year but her outstanding performance as the Managing Director and Chief Operating Officer of Goldman Sach’s Asia Securities Division stood her out before Ghana’s young and aspiring bankers and entrepreneurs. The Ghanaian Financial Analyst is inspiring young people around world especially women, to become prominent leaders and change-makers. Lisa’s name was short-listed among Black Enterprise’s 75 Most Powerful Women in Business by a US-based Black Enterprise Magazine. Graduated with a BA from University of Minnesola, Lisa also went through Harvard Law School before rising high on the hill of top executive personnel of the giant financial firm, Goldman.

Kenya –Ory Okolloh – Blogger

The technology co-founded by Okolloh, Ushahidi, became most helpful to promptly put to rest the violence that took over Kenya shortly after a disputed presidential election in 2007. Ushahidi is a website that is engaged in collecting and recording eyewitness reports of violence through text massages and Google Maps. Since then, the technology has become a new trend adopted by some other countries to track elections, pharmaceutical availability and other purposes. The Harvard trained lawyer and activist from a humble background in Kenya is presently a Policy Manager in Google, Africa. Okolloh has before her present position with Google worked with the World Bank, Kenya National Commission on Human Rights and some NGOs across the world. She is a spotlight on global technology and a trail blazer, setting the pace for other women to follow.

Liberia – Saran Kaba Jones – Founder of Face of Africa

Born in Monrovia, Liberia in 1982, Saran returned to her country home 18 years after she fled the country at age 8 with her family as a result of the civil war. But she returned to the country, with a heart to serve and impact lives. In her words,

“In 2005, I began sending funds back to Liberia to help a young family friend with his school fees. After two years, he went on to complete high school and enrolled at the University of Liberia. When I realized just how much of an impact my rather small support had made, I decided to scale up my efforts and dedicated myself to improving the lives of those less fortunate.

In early 2008, I launched FACE Africa with the goal of providing educational opportunities to children and young adults in Liberia and other war-torn countries. In October 2008, during my first visit to Liberia in nearly 20 years, I was faced with the harsh realities of a post-conflict Liberia and the enormous challenges facing the country.

I left Liberia somewhat depressed and disheartened but also had a new found understanding of the needs and challenges as well as ways in which I could contribute to the rebuilding efforts. One of the areas that I felt needed immediate attention was the water and sanitation issue. The war destroyed major water points and water systems, forcing millions of Liberians to go without access to clean and safe drinking water and proper sanitation facilities.

In October 2009, with a $10,000 grant from the Davis Project for Peace and in partnership with Clean Water for Kids, we began implementing our first clean water project in Barnesville, Liberia. The project involved the installation of a water purification system capable of producing up to 20,000 liters of drinking water per day.

Exactly one year later, we broke ground on a water and sanitation project in a small rural community called Joezohn with no access to safe drinking water or sanitation facilities. The project was implemented in partnership with Concern Liberia and funded with the help of a $20,000 grant from the Chase Community Giving Program.”

Today, through FACE of Africa, she has continued to scale up different projects and impact lives for good.

Nigeria – Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie – Writer

She was born in 1977, in Enugu, Nigeria. “The most prominent of a procession of critically acclaimed young Anglophone author”, as she is widely called, Chimamanda came to the world consciousness when her first novel, Purple Hibiscus was short-listed for the Orange Prize for Fiction in 2004. The same book in 2005, won the Commonwealth Writer’s Prize for Best First Book. Two years later, in 2007, her second novel ‘Half of a Yellow Sun’ was named the Orange Prize for Fiction. Adichie who is inspired by Nigerian history and tragedies is helping to promote reading among people across the world.

Sierra Leone – Isha Sesay – Journalist and Broadcaster

Sesay was born in 1976, in the United Kingdom, but she spent her childhood in Sierra Leone. After graduating from Trinity College, Cambridge where she studied English she became a volunteer researcher for a BBC talk show, kilroy. Sesay presented several programmes for the BBC, CNN, TWI and Good Morning Sports Fans for Sky Sports News. She is the host of Backstory as well as the presenter of 360 Bulletin on Anderson Cooper 360º.

South Africa – Yolanda Zoleka Cuba – Corporate Executive

Serving as Director at a choice of companies, Yolanda was once one of the youngest Chief Executive Officers in South Africa. Then at 29, she was already a CEO at the Mvelephanda Group, one of South African multinational giant. Yolanda is an Independent Non-Executive Director and Member of Board Finance Committee at Absa Group Limited, Healthcare and several others. The graduate of statistics from the University of Cape Town and Accounting from the University of Natal in Durban is a recipient of Youth Excellence Award, Top Empowered Business Women of the Year Award and more.

Sudan – Nima El Bagir

Graduated from the London School of Economics with a B.Sc. in Philosophy, Nima was born in 1978 and had her early journalism career with the Reuters, reporting from Sudan. She covered the conflict in Darfur. While carrying out her reportorial duty, she met and interviewed Hemeti (Mohammed Hamdan Dogolo) one of the main Arab Janjaweed Commanders during the fight in Darfur. In 2005 she joined the More4News where she exposed rape assertions against the African Union in Darfur. In 2007 Nima was one of the few journalists reporting from Mogadishu during the US bombing of Somalia. She later joined the CNN and became a London based international correspondent in 2008. The fearless Journalist has received the Press Association Awards, TV News story of the year. And Broadcast Journalist of the Year Awards.

Tanzania – Elsie Kanza – Economist

Besides being the Director, Head of Africa World Economic Forum, Kanza once won the Young Global Leader Award. The economic advisor to Tanzania President Jakaya Kikwete holds a bachelor’s degree in International Business Administration from the United State University, Africa. She also has a MA in Development Economic from centre for Development Economics, Williams College in the US. Kanza has contributed immensely to the economic of her country home. She is currently a fellow Archbishop Desmond Tutu Leadership program. Kanza is an African Development Economist.

Zimbabwe – Kirsty Leigh Conventry – sport (Swimmer)

29 year-old Conventry is a Zimbabwean swimmer born in Harare, the capital of her country. The record holder became the first Zimbabwean swimmer to reach the semifinal at the Olympics and was named the Zimbabwe’s Sports Women of the Year while still in high school in 2000. Conventry has participated in many world swimming and Athletic tournaments, especially the Olympics and she has competitively won several medals. Popular described as Zimbabwe’s national Treasure, she won gold medals at the International Swim Meet in Narashimo, Japan in 2007. Conventry broke the record of Krisztina Egers Zegi in 200m backstroke at the Missouri Grand Prix, in 2008. In history, she became the second woman in the world to break the 59 second barrier in 100m backstroke. She was recognized as the FINA Female Swimmer of the Championships with several other records.

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