This generation of young African women is the most ambitious yet.
They are eager to build industries, reform societies, save lives,
rewrite history, and transform the continent.
Our annual “20 Young Power African Women” list illuminates the
brightest stars and Africa’s most outstanding female game changers. We
enlisted a group of young, professional African women to help identify
the most innovative, courageous, daring and successful young women aged
45 and under. It is a subjective list, no doubt, but it’s the closest
you will get to a definitive list.
Meet the 2013 class of 20 Young Power Women in Africa: the
continent’s emerging power brokers, the Amazons to watch, and the
custodians of tomorrow.
Isabel Dos Santos, Angolan. Investor.
The daughter of Angola’s President, Jose Eduardo Dos Santos is
Africa’s richest woman. She is also one of the continent’s most powerful
businesswomen. Through her various holding companies, she controls a
25% stake in Angolan mobile telecom operator Unitel, a 25% stake in
Angola’s Banco BIC, 25% of ZON Optimus, a listed Portuguese cable TV
company, and just under 20% of Banco BPI, one of Portugal’s largest
publicly traded banks. She is also partnering with Sonae, Portugal’s
largest retailer, to launch 5 new food hypermarkets in Angola in 2014.
Mimi Alemayehou, Ethiopian. Executive Vice President of the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC)
Vera Songwe, Cameroonian. Country Director, World Bank, Senegal
Vera Songwe, a Cameroonian national, serves as the World Bank’s
Country Director for Senegal, Cape Verde, Gambia, Mauritania and
Guinea-Bissau. She is also a non-resident senior fellow at the Brookings
Institute with the Global Economy and Development and Africa Growth
Initiative.
Tara Fela-Durotoye Nigerian. Founder, House Of Tara
The Nigerian-born entrepreneur and lawyer is the founder of House Of
Tara, Nigeria’s leading beauty and cosmetics company. House of Tara
develops a wide range of African-themed beauty products and perfumes and
also operates Nigeria’s foremost beauty academy. In 2013, Fela-Durotoye
was nominated as a Young Global Leader by the World Economic Forum.
Rapelang Rabana, South African. Entrepreneur
One of Africa’s most recognizable young entrepreneurs. Rabana, 29, is
the CEO and founder of Cape Town-based Yeigo Communications, which
develops software for telecoms-related services including Voice over IP,
Instant messaging, SMS messaging and push email services. In 2008, Telfree, a Swiss mobile telecommunications firm, acquired a 51% stake in Yeigo. In December 2012 she founded Rekindle Learning, a company that provides adaptive mobile learning solutions.
Claire Akamanzi, Rwandan. Chief Operating Officer, Rwanda Development Board
Akamanzi, 34, is the Chief Operating Officer of the Rwandan Development Board (RDB),
a government institution tasked with accelerating economic growth and
development in Rwanda by enabling private sector growth. Akamanzi has
had a successful career in public service, serving as Rwanda’s
commercial diplomat in London and as a trade negotiator in Geneva for
the Rwandan government at the World Trade Organization. She was also
previously the Deputy Director-General of the Rwanda Investment and
Export Promotion Agency (RIEPA).
Valentina da Luz Guebuza, Mozambiquan. Investor
The 33 year-old daughter of Mozambique’s President Armando Guebuza
heads Focus 21 Management & Development, a large family-owned
investment holding company with interests in banking,
telecommunications, fisheries, transport, mining and property. Focus 21
owns significant stakes in Beira Grain Terminal and Chinese Pay TV
Company StarTimes’ operations in Mozambique.
Hadeel Ibrahim, Sudanese. Mo Ibrahim Foundation
Hadeel Ibrahim is the daughter of Sudanese-born British mobile telecoms billionaire Mo Ibrahim.
She is the founding Executive Director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation,
which was established in 2006 to support leadership and good governance
in Africa. She also serves on the Boards of the Mary Robinson Foundation
for Climate Justice and the African Governance Institute (AGI).
Alengot Oromait, Ugandan. Member Of Parliament
Proscovia Oromait, 20, is the youngest parliamentarian in Africa. In
2012 she was elected Member of Parliament for Usuk County, Katakwi
District in Uganda. Her father, Michael Oromait, served as the MP for
the same Parliamentary seat before his death in July 2012. She is a
member of Uganda’s ruling National Resistance Movement party.
Monica Musonda, Zambian. Chief Executive Officer and Founder of Java Foods
Musonda is the founder of Java Foods, a Zambia-based food processing company that manufactures the eeZee brand of Instant Noodles. Musonda
previously worked with Africa’s richest man, Aliko Dangote, as the
director of legal and corporate affairs at Dangote Group, where she led a
project to build a cement plant in Zambia. She currently serves on the
Boards of Dangote Industries Zambia Limited and the Central Bank of
Zambia. Musonda is also the Chairperson of Kwacha Pension Trust Fund,
Zambia’s largest single employer pension fund. She is an Archbishop
Desmond Tutu Leadership Fellow and was named a 2013 Young Global Leader
by the World Economic Forum.
Lindiwe Mazibuko, South African. Politician & Parliamentary Leader for Democratic Alliance (DA)
Mazibuko, age 33, is a Parliamentary Leader for the Democratic
Alliance (MP for North Durban) and Leader of the Opposition in the
National Assembly in South Africa. As the country’s fourth youngest
parliamentarian, Mazibuko is already being touted as a future leader of
the Democratic Alliance. Mazibuko was named South Africa’s Most
Influential Woman in 2012 and a Young Global Leader by the World
Economic Forum in 2013.
Minoush Abdel-Meguid, Egyptian. Private Equity Investor, Entrepreneur, Investment Banker
The Egyptian-born investment banker is the co-founder of Union Capital, an
Egyptian investment firm primarily focused on small and medium-sized
enterprises. Abdel-Meguid is also founding president of the Egyptian
Young Bankers Association, an organization that mentors young banking
professionals.
Ola Orekunrin, Nigerian. Medical Doctor & Founder, The Flying Doctors
Orekunrin, 25, is founder and Managing Director
of Flying Doctors Nigeria Ltd., an air ambulance service based in Lagos,
Nigeria. Orekunrin’s company is the first air ambulance service in West
Africa to provide urgent helicopter, airplane ambulance and evacuation
services for critically injured people. She is a 2013 New Voices Fellow
at the Aspen Institute and was named a Young Global Leader in 2013 by
the World Economic Forum.
Sibongile Sambo, South African. Chief Executive Officer and Founder of SRS Aviation
Sambo is the founder and Managing Director of SRS (Sibongile Rejoice
Sambo) Aviation – the first black female owned aviation company in South
Africa. SRS is an integrated provider of private aviation services
offering South African and international clients VIP Charter, tourist
charter and helicopter services. The company also provides maintenance,
sales and fleet management services to private jet owners.
Lupita Nyong’o, Kenyan. Actress and Filmmaker
Nyong’o is a Kenyan actress and filmmaker who made her Hollywood
debut in acclaimed film director Steve McQueen’s “12 Years a Slave” as
Patsey. Nyong’o was born in Mexico, raised in Kenya and educated in the
U.S. She is a graduate of Yale University’s School of Drama. In 2009,
the breakout actress was also the lead in MTV’s award-winning drama
series, Shuga. Nyong’o’s cousin, Isis Nyong’o was named one of Forbes 20
Youngest Power Women in Africa in 2011. Another cousin, Tavia Nyong’o,
is a professor at NYU’s Tisch School of the Arts.
Amini Kajunju, Democratic Republic of Congo. President & CEO, Africa-America Institute
A native of the Democratic Republic of Congo, Amini Kajunju is the
President & CEO of the Africa-America Institute, and the first
African woman to serve at the helm of the oldest nonprofit organization
of its kind in the United States. Kajunju joined the Africa-America
Institute in October 2012 from the New York-based Workshop in Business
Opportunities (WIBO) where she had served as Executive Director for 10
years. Under her leadership, Kajunju has bolstered the organization’s
programming and served more entrepreneurs than any other institution of a
similar size in New York City.
Folake Folarin-Coker, Nigerian. Fashion Designer
Coker is the founder of Tiffany Amber,
one of Africa’s leading fashion labels. She is the first African-based
designer to showcase for two consecutive seasons at New York Fashion
Week. In 2009, she won Designer of the Year at African Fashion
International in Johannesburg, South Africa followed by Fashion Brand
of the Year in 2011 at the Arise Fashion Week in Lagos, Nigeria.
NoViolet Bulawayo, Zimbabwean. Author
Zimbabwean-born author NoViolet Bulawayo is the first Black African female and the first Zimbabwean to be shortlisted for the prestigious Man Booker prize for her debut novel “We Need New Names.” She is the author of the short story Hitting Budapest (2010),
which won the 2011 Caine Prize for African Writing. NoViolet Bulawayo
is currently a Stegner Fellow at Stanford University in California.
Wangechi Mutu, Kenyan. Artist and Sculptor
Considered one of the most important contemporary African artists of
recent years, Mutu’s first major solo exhibition in the U.S., Wangechi Mutu: A Fantastic Journey, opened
at the Nasher Museum of Art at Duke University in Durham, North
Carolina in March 2013. Mutu’s work has achieved much global acclaim
with exhibitions at museums and galleries worldwide including the San
Francisco Museum of Modern Art, the Miami Art Museum, Tate Modern in
London, the Studio Museum in Harlem in New York, Museum Kunstpalast in
Düsseldorf, Germany the Centre Georges Pompidou in Paris and. Her first
solo exhibition at a major North American museum opened at the Art
Gallery of Ontario in March 2010.
Angellah Kariuki, Tanzanian. Politician
Kariuki, 37, is a Special seat Member of Tanzania’s Parliament and
the country’s Deputy Minister for Justice and Constitutional Affairs.
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