the Africa they Never show You

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…

nigerianostalgia:

Dr. Simi Johnson
First female dentist in Nigeria
(1970s)

More Vintage Nigerian photos

dynamicafrica:

International Women’s Day: Africa’s top women achievers - nominated by you via the Guardian.

To celebrate IWD, the Guardian asked readeres to name women from across the continent who they feel deserve recognition.

Here are the top 25:

• Joyce Banda (Malawi)
• Graca Machel (Mozambique)
• Fatou Bensouda (Gambia)
• Nana Oye Lithur (Ghana)
• Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma (South Africa)
• Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala (Nigeria)
• Mary Crockett (South Africa)
• Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie (Nigeria)
• Chibundu Onuzo (Nigeria)
• Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu (Ethiopia)
• Isoken Ogiemwonyi (Nigeria)
• Oumou Sangare (Mali)
• Leymah Gbowee (Liberia)
• Esther Gatuma (Kenya)
• Saran Kaba Jones (Liberia)
• Precious Moloi-Motsepe (South Africa)
• Juliana Rotich (Kenya)
• Lorna Rutto (Kenya)
• Jepchumba (Kenya)
• Winnie Byanyima (Uganda)
• Jolly Dusabe (Uganda & Rwanda)
• Ola Orekunrin (Nigeria)
• Pat Featherstone (South Africa)
• Hope Chigudu (Uganda & Malawi)
• Marieme Jamme (Sengal)

(Source: darkskinnedblackbeauty, via afrostyling)

shevyvision:

“It’s really beautiful. It feels like God visits everywhere else but lives in Africa”   —Will Smith

(Source: shevyvision, via ourafrica)

prepaidafrica:

“Don’t wait for a Gandhi, don’t wait for a King, don’t wait for Mandela. You are your own Mandela, you are your own Gandhi, you are your own King.”

It is only expected that anyone who wins the Nobel Peace Prize would be bold, courageous and inspiring. Leymah Gbowee indeed delivers on this expectation and is a woman seemingly full of confidence, passion and conviction. However, by her own admission, she was not always this way.

Leymah’s story is one that is truly inspiring, and is the embodiment of a person who decided to stop waiting for change, and decided to lead the change she wanted to see.

Leymah was born into a middle class family and lived a sheltered, serene life until her family, like many others, was devastated by the numerous wars in Liberia. During the war, life would see her relocating temporarily to Ghana, living in refugee camps, eating leftovers from sheer hunger, giving birth to a child and living like a beggar on the hospital floor, unable to leave because she had not paid the hospital bill. It would see her struggling to make ends meet to provide for her children, reaching rock bottom and losing her confidence along the way.

(via afrimind :: Great African Leader - Leymah Gbowee)

howiviewafrica:

Laughter is the best medicine.

afrikanwomen:

Professor Tebello Nyokong is a researcher of a ground-breaking cancer diagnosis and treatment.

Born in 1951 in Lesotho, this South African Professor has achieved international acclaim for her groundbreaking work in harnessing light for cancer therapy and environmental clean-ups.

She is currently undertaking research on a new cancer diagnosis and treatment methodology called ‘photo-dynamic therapy’, which is intended as an alternative to chemotherapy.

Through her international reputation, Professor Nyokong has contributed considerably to enhancing the reputation of South African science. Many international scientists have been drawn by her work to visit South Africa, and her laboratory has hosted postdoctoral candidates from around the world.

In 2009 Professor Nyokong won the Africa-Arab State L’Oréal-Unesco Award for Women in Science and was named by UNESCO as one of the world’s top five exceptional women scientists.

In addition to working on photo-dynamic therapy, Professor Tebello Nyokong, continues to train chemists, particularly women, in the skills needed to keep South Africa at the cutting edge of scientific development.

“I work very hard and do not give up easily even when things are tough. I tend to take setbacks in my life as a way of working even harder. I actually get challenged by doing the ‘impossible.” 

(—source)