Diary Of An Under 30 CEO – Manka S Angwafo, Founder of Hadithi At 26 years of age, starting a business was the furthest thing from my mind. I was into my third year as a Research Analyst at the World Bank Group, surrounded by a diverse group of powerful decision makers who, like me, are passionate about Africa. I was privileged enough to attend meetings with key business leaders, presidents and prominent policy makers from the continent. I was right where I wanted to be. I had found the perfect balance of work hard/play hard. My future was clear and secure. I was going to wait out my contract, pursue a doctorate degree, return to the World Bank in my thirties and begin the long climb through ranks to senior management. Then something interesting happened…. Continue reading at Ventures Africa…

Diary Of An Under 30 CEO – Manka S Angwafo, Founder of Hadithi

At 26 years of age, starting a business was the furthest thing from my mind. I was into my third year as a Research Analyst at the World Bank Group, surrounded by a diverse group of powerful decision makers who, like me, are passionate about Africa.

I was privileged enough to attend meetings with key business leaders, presidents and prominent policy makers from the continent. I was right where I wanted to be. I had found the perfect balance of work hard/play hard. My future was clear and secure. I was going to wait out my contract, pursue a doctorate degree, return to the World Bank in my thirties and begin the long climb through ranks to senior management.

Then something interesting happened….

Continue reading at Ventures Africa…

dank-potion:

For women’s day, I wanted to commerorate amazing African women who’s contributions to society have gone virtually unnoticed by the larger media. (from left to right).

Wangari Muta Mary Jo Maathai (1 April 1940 – 25 September 2011) was a Kenyan environmental and political activist. She was educated in the United States at Mount St. Scholastica and the University of Pittsburgh, as well as the University of Nairobi in Kenya. In the 1970s, Maathai founded the Green Belt Movement, an environmental NGO focused on the planting of trees, environmental conservation, and women’s rights. In 1986, she was awarded the Right Livelihood Award, and in 2004, she became the first African woman to receive the Nobel Peace Prize for “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” Maathai was an elected member of Parliament and served as assistant minister for Environment and Natural Resources in the government of President Mwai Kibaki between January 2003 and November 2005. Furthermore she was an Honorary Councillor of the World Future Council. 

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf (born 29 October 1938) is the 24th and current President of Liberia. She served as Minister of Finance under President William Tolbert from 1979 until the 1980 coup d’État, after which she left Liberia and held senior positions at various financial institutions. She placed a very distant second in the 1997 presidential election. Later, she was elected President in the 2005 presidential election and took office on 16 January 2006. She successfully ran for re-election in 2011. Sirleaf is the first and currently the only elected female head of state in Africa.

Graça Machel, (17 October 1945) is a Mozambican politician and humanitarian. She is the third wife of former South African president Nelson Mandela and the widow of Mozambican president Samora Machel. She is an international advocate for women’s and children’s rights and in 1997 was made a British dame for her humanitarian work. attend University of Lisbon in Portugal, where she first became involved in independence issues. In that university, she earned a scholarship from Romance Languages. She is fluent in French, Spanish, Italian, Portuguese, and English, as well as her native Tsonga. She returned to Mozambique in 1973, joined the Mozambican Liberation Front(FRELIMO) and became a schoolteacher. Following Mozambique’s independence in 1975, Machel was appointed Minister for Education and Culture. She married Samora Machel the same year. Following her retirement from the Mozambique ministry, Machel was appointed as the expert in charge of producing the groundbreaking United Nations report on the impact of armed conflict on children.

Birtukan Mideksa (born 1975) is an Ethiopian politician and former judge. She is the leader of the opposition Unity for Democracy and Justice (UDJ) party. she joined Addis Ababa University where she graduated from Law School with a Bachelors Degree in Law. She practiced law at the 3rd district of the federal judiciary. She joined the Rainbow Ethiopia: Movement for Democracy and Social Justice party and later Coalition for Unity and Democracy (CUD) after a coalition of four parties. After election or 2005, her party won over a third of the seats. As a result, Birtukan was convicted of attempting to overthrow the constitutional order and sentenced to life in prison. She was pardoned and later founded UDJ (Unity for Democracy and Justice) with the same principles followed by CUD.

Hafsat Abiola (born 1974 in Lagos) is a Nigerian human rights activist, founder of the Kudirat Initiative for Democracy (KIND), which seeks to strengthen civil society in Nigeria. Abiola graduated from Phillips Academy in 1992 and Harvard College in 1996 and later received an honorary doctorate from Haverford College. Abiola is the founder of China-Africa Bridge, which promotes mutually beneficial cross-cultural collaboration between China and Africa. In 2000, Abiola was honored as one of the Global Leaders of Tomorrow at the World Economic Forum. In 2003, she was elected as a Fellow of the Ashoka: Innovators for the Public. In 2006 she was nominated to be a founding councilor at the World Future Council. Also in, 2006 she raised funds by organizing performances of The Vagina Monologues in Nigeria. Since May 2008 she is also a Councilor at the World Future Council among 49 other well known personalities.

Niemat Ahmadi is the Darfuri Liaison Officer with the Save Darfur Coalition. A native of North Darfur, she promotes cooperation between the coalition and the Darfuri diaspora within the United States and abroad, focusing in particular on the role of Darfuri women in the peace process. She is a Founding Member of the Darfuri Leaders Network, a coalition of more than 20 domestic Darfuri organizations working to promote peace and security in Darfur.

(Source: maarnayeri)

(Source: )

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf Launches Country Chapter of African Women Entrepreneurship Program

President Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf last Wednesday joined hundreds of women at a program marking the celebration of International Women’s Day (IWD) 2012, in Tubmanburg, Bomi County. At the event, President Sirleaf launched the Liberian Chapter of the African Women Entrepreneurship Program (AWEP) and the Adolescent Girls Unit at the Ministry of Gender and Development.

The African Women Entrepreneurship Program, which was started in 2010, based on the recognition that African women are so often the engine of national growth and development, is the brain-child of United States Secretary of State, Hillary Clinton. The first chapter of AWEP was formed in Zambia, and since then dozens of African countries have followed. AWEP aims to empower African businesswomen through training, strengthening public-private partnerships, and expanding business capacities and relationships.

In remarks, the President indicated that the themes for this year’s IWD celebration were very appropriate because they support Government’s initiatives to develop and empower women and girls.

She acknowledged the growing number of Liberian women entrepreneurs who are making positive contributions to the country’s economy and other sectors, and appealed for support not just from Government but all Liberians and other nationals within our borders. We must encourage these entrepreneurs to develop by purchasing their products, President Sirleaf said.

The need for the Adolescent Girls Unit at the Ministry of Gender and Development stems from the fact that girls are generally overlooked by many existing structures addressing youth and women issues in Liberia, the President indicated. This Unit will address the issues, needs, and concerns of girls, ages 10-12, with special emphasis placed on girls ages 10-15. Its purpose is to ensure national programs and policies are optimized to work better for girls in order to accelerate growth and reduce poverty.

An Executive Mansion release quotes President Sirleaf as saying that the global theme for this year’s celebration, “Connecting Girls, Inspiring Future” and the national theme “Connect, Reconcile and Empower Girls and Women for the Future,” give Government the opportunity to look at the challenges, opportunities and potential for the younger generation of Liberian women. She described the population of Liberia today as one of the world’s youngest populations, with more than 50 percent under the age of 35, half of whom, she pointed out, are girls.

Read entire article here…

First Lady Michelle Obama meets with Ernestina Mills, First Lady of Ghana, at the State Department in Washington, D.C., March 8. (Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

First Lady Michelle Obama meets with Ernestina Mills, First Lady of Ghana, at the State Department in Washington, D.C., March 8.

(Photo by Sonya N. Hebert)

afrikanwomen: African women making a change Hadeel Ibrahim, Executive Director, MO IBRAHIM FOUNDATION Country: Sudan Hadeel Ibrahim is the daughter of Mo and Hania Ibrahim (a former consultant radiologist ). The Ibrahim family is of Nubian descents. Hadeel Ibrahim is the founding executive director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which was established in 2006 to support great African leadership. Among her achievements, she is a board member of Refugees International and UNESCO’s LEAP programme, which fosters local effort and preservation of cultural heritage. Prior to this, she spent time with the Africa section of Actis private equity investors, and with the private equity fund management group EMP Africa. Hadeel has a degree from Bristol University in politics and philosophy. “This is an opportunity for young Africans to hear and see good things about themselves. My parents grew up with the heroes of independence, but half the continent wasn’t alive then. There hasn’t been a lot to inspire confidence since the early 80s. People internalise what they hear and see about themselves - and this is a night that celebrates excellence and achievement.” - Hadeel Ibrahim at the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership , Alexandria.

afrikanwomen:

African women making a change

Hadeel Ibrahim, Executive Director, MO IBRAHIM FOUNDATION

Country: Sudan

Hadeel Ibrahim is the daughter of Mo and Hania Ibrahim (a former consultant radiologist ). The Ibrahim family is of Nubian descents.

Hadeel Ibrahim is the founding executive director of the Mo Ibrahim Foundation, which was established in 2006 to support great African leadership.

Among her achievements, she is a board member of Refugees International and UNESCO’s LEAP programme, which fosters local effort and preservation of cultural heritage.

Prior to this, she spent time with the Africa section of Actis private equity investors, and with the private equity fund management group EMP Africa. Hadeel has a degree from Bristol University in politics and philosophy.

“This is an opportunity for young Africans to hear and see good things about themselves. My parents grew up with the heroes of independence, but half the continent wasn’t alive then. There hasn’t been a lot to inspire confidence since the early 80s. People internalise what they hear and see about themselves - and this is a night that celebrates excellence and achievement.”

- Hadeel Ibrahim at the Mo Ibrahim Prize for Achievement in African Leadership , Alexandria.

(via ohyeahsudan)

Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Trio of Liberian, Yemeni Women The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni women’s rights advocate Tawakkul Karman.The Norwegian Nobel Committee made the announcement Friday in Oslo, saying the three women will split the coveted award for “their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights.”Committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland praised the work of the three recipients, saying that “we cannot achieve lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men.”Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 72, became Africa’s first democratically elected female president in 2005. The Nobel Committee praised the Liberian leader for her efforts to secure peace, promote economic and social development and strengthen the position of women. In an exclusive VOA interview with James Butty, Sirleaf said she is humbled by the award.  She said it is an award for all the Liberian people, given what they’ve gone through - 13 years of civil war, the peace process, and democratic elections.The Liberian leader, in a close re-election campaign leading up to Tuesday’s voting, said the Nobel is recognition of “many years of struggle for justice, peace and promotion of development” in her country.  She said “credit goes to the Liberian people.”Thirty-nine year-old Leymah Gbowee, also from Liberia, helped to end her country’s civil war by encouraging Christian and Muslim women to participate in a series of sit-ins and non-violent demonstrations. In 2002, Gbowee mobilized Liberian women to participate in a “sex strike” until the violence ended. She said the award is “a Nobel for African women,” adding that there is “no way that anyone can minimize our role anymore.” Meanwhile, 32-year-old activist and journalist Tawakkul Karman was praised for playing a “leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace” in Yemen. A leading “Arab Spring” activist in her country, Karman told reporters after winning the prize that she dedicated it to the “youth of the revolution in Yemen,” saying it was a victory in her country’s uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. The committee said it hopes the prize will help bring an end to the “suppression of women that still occurs in many countries.”The three women will share an award of nearly $1.5 million, which they will receive at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10.Last year, the Nobel committee awarded the peace prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident writer and activist Liu Xiaobo, angering the Chinese government. Liu is serving an 11-year prison sentence for what China says is “subverting state power.”Past winners include U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009, former Vice President Al Gore in 2007 and former President Jimmy Carter in 2002.  The 2001 prize was split between the United Nations and then Secretary-General Kofi Annan.The prize was created by Swedish scientist and industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.

Nobel Peace Prize Goes to Trio of Liberian, Yemeni Women

The 2011 Nobel Peace Prize has been awarded to Liberian President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, Liberian peace activist Leymah Gbowee and Yemeni women’s rights advocate Tawakkul Karman.

The Norwegian Nobel Committee made the announcement Friday in Oslo, saying the three women will split the coveted award for “their nonviolent struggle for the safety of women and for women’s rights.”

Committee Chairman Thorbjoern Jagland praised the work of the three recipients, saying that “we cannot achieve lasting peace in the world unless women obtain the same opportunities as men.”

Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, 72, became Africa’s first democratically elected female president in 2005. The Nobel Committee praised the Liberian leader for her efforts to secure peace, promote economic and social development and strengthen the position of women.

In an exclusive VOA interview with James Butty, Sirleaf said she is humbled by the award.  She said it is an award for all the Liberian people, given what they’ve gone through - 13 years of civil war, the peace process, and democratic elections.

The Liberian leader, in a close re-election campaign leading up to Tuesday’s voting, said the Nobel is recognition of “many years of struggle for justice, peace and promotion of development” in her country.  She said “credit goes to the Liberian people.”

Thirty-nine year-old Leymah Gbowee, also from Liberia, helped to end her country’s civil war by encouraging Christian and Muslim women to participate in a series of sit-ins and non-violent demonstrations. In 2002, Gbowee mobilized Liberian women to participate in a “sex strike” until the violence ended. 

She said the award is “a Nobel for African women,” adding that there is “no way that anyone can minimize our role anymore.”

Meanwhile, 32-year-old activist and journalist Tawakkul Karman was praised for playing a “leading part in the struggle for women’s rights and for democracy and peace” in Yemen. A leading “Arab Spring” activist in her country, Karman told reporters after winning the prize that she dedicated it to the “youth of the revolution in Yemen,” saying it was a victory in her country’s uprising against President Ali Abdullah Saleh. 

The committee said it hopes the prize will help bring an end to the “suppression of women that still occurs in many countries.”

The three women will share an award of nearly $1.5 million, which they will receive at a ceremony in Oslo on December 10.

Last year, the Nobel committee awarded the peace prize to imprisoned Chinese dissident writer and activist Liu Xiaobo, angering the Chinese government. Liu is serving an 11-year prison sentence for what China says is “subverting state power.”

Past winners include U.S. President Barack Obama in 2009, former Vice President Al Gore in 2007 and former President Jimmy Carter in 2002.  The 2001 prize was split between the United Nations and then Secretary-General Kofi Annan.

The prize was created by Swedish scientist and industrialist Alfred Nobel, the inventor of dynamite.

African Women and Philanthropy: The Importance of Funding Our Own Movements

by Sarah Mukasa

Philanthropy in Africa has become an area of increasing interest in the past 10 or more years. A key focus for interrogation is the manifestation of philanthropy in the African context – its areas of strength and weakness. Another is how to build on the traditions of philanthropy in Africa to attain stronger institutional processes that scale up localized forms of giving and ground these in principles of social justice, equality, peace and sustainable development. Africans are challenging the notion that Africa is purely a ‘donor recipient’ continent and instead are pointing to the rich traditions of giving and philanthropic practice in Africa – which in many instances have been the mainstay of entire communities.

Whilst it is known that philanthropy is an age-old practice in Africa, there is little recognition of the contributions it has made in developing and sustaining communities.  In Africa today, much of the giving takes place in familial and informal community networks responding often to immediate/ welfare concerns. Burial societies, individual support to the payment of school fees and, building of community facilities are examples of philanthropy that can be found in many variations on the continent. Religious organizing has also formed a critical avenue for much of the more formal and institutionalised mechanisms for philanthropy, with programmes driven by local actors providing a range of services including education, health services and feeding programmes.

More recently, a number of African philanthropic actors and organisations seeking to address social, economic and political inequalities and disparities have emerged. In addition there has been an increase in the number of high net worth individuals in Africa establishing their own, more formalised philanthropic initiatives and organizations. At the same time, the private and corporate sectors in Africa are increasingly developing corporate responsibility programmes. These developments have raised the visibility of philanthropy in Africa, highlighting its critical role in our societies and communities. Initiatives such as the African Grantmakers Network- a network developed by African grant makers to promote and strengthen philanthropy in Africa- are testament to the shifts in thinking and organisation on the continent. Increasingly Africans on the continent and elsewhere are seeking to make a difference as collaborative and organised donors to the kinds of change they wish to see.

This is both evident and urgent within the feminist movement. The role of women within the growing field of philanthropy in Africa- their contributions, successes and challenges – remain largely undocumented and unrecognised. Yet the establishment of organizations such as the African Women’s Development Fund and Urgent Action Fund –Africa amongst others, has concretised the central nature of African women’s participation and influence in philanthropy, especially social justice philanthropy.

Within the feminist movement, there is a growing body of thought on the need for us as women to fund our own movements. This partly reflects an increasing unease with external donor practice in support of short term, project based approaches- which do initiate some change, but which are in the long term difficult to sustain, since often they can only address symptoms, and not root causes. Mounting pressure  to demonstrate immediate results or face the risk of losing funding has driven many to develop projects that are all SMART but have little in the way of substance and relevance.  

Continue reading here…

(Source: awdf.org)

The World Mourns the Passing of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai NAIROBI, Kenya — Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who began a movement to reforest her country by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees and who went on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, died here on Sunday. She was 71. The cause was cancer, said her organization, the Green Belt Movement. Kenyan news outlets said that she had been treated for ovarian cancer in the past year and that she had been in a hospital for at least a week before she died. “It is with great sadness that the Green Belt Movement announces the passing of its founder and chair, Prof Wangari Muta Maathai, after a long illness bravely borne,” the organisation said in a statement on its website. “Prof Maathai passed away on the 26th of September 2011 in Nairobi. Her family and loved ones were with her at the time,” the statement, signed by the movement’s Executive Director Karanja Njoroge, added. Dr. Maathai, one of the most widely respected women on the continent, played many roles — environmentalist, feminist, politician, professor, rabble-rouser, human rights advocate and head of the Green Belt Movement, which she founded in 1977. Its mission was to plant trees across Kenya to fight erosion and to create firewood for fuel and jobs for women. Dr. Maathai was as comfortable in the gritty streets of Nairobi’s slums or the muddy hillsides of central Kenya as she was hobnobbing with heads of state. She won the Peace Prize in 2004 for what the Nobel committee called “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” It was a moment of immense pride in Kenya and across Africa. Her Green Belt Movement has planted more than 30 million trees in Africa and has helped nearly 900,000 women, according to the United Nations, while inspiring similar efforts in other African countries. Continue reading here…

The World Mourns the Passing of Nobel Peace Prize Laureate Wangari Maathai

NAIROBI, Kenya — Wangari Maathai, the Kenyan environmentalist who began a movement to reforest her country by paying poor women a few shillings to plant trees and who went on to become the first African woman to win a Nobel Peace Prize, died here on Sunday. She was 71.

The cause was cancer, said her organization, the Green Belt Movement. Kenyan news outlets said that she had been treated for ovarian cancer in the past year and that she had been in a hospital for at least a week before she died.

“It is with great sadness that the Green Belt Movement announces the passing of its founder and chair, Prof Wangari Muta Maathai, after a long illness bravely borne,” the organisation said in a statement on its website.

“Prof Maathai passed away on the 26th of September 2011 in Nairobi. Her family and loved ones were with her at the time,” the statement, signed by the movement’s Executive Director Karanja Njoroge, added.

Dr. Maathai, one of the most widely respected women on the continent, played many roles — environmentalist, feminist, politician, professor, rabble-rouser, human rights advocate and head of the Green Belt Movement, which she founded in 1977. Its mission was to plant trees across Kenya to fight erosion and to create firewood for fuel and jobs for women.

Dr. Maathai was as comfortable in the gritty streets of Nairobi’s slums or the muddy hillsides of central Kenya as she was hobnobbing with heads of state. She won the Peace Prize in 2004 for what the Nobel committee called “her contribution to sustainable development, democracy and peace.” It was a moment of immense pride in Kenya and across Africa.

Her Green Belt Movement has planted more than 30 million trees in Africa and has helped nearly 900,000 women, according to the United Nations, while inspiring similar efforts in other African countries.

Continue reading here…

(Source: The New York Times)

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