Seth Onyango, bird story agency
Wangarĩ Maathai’s hands, once caked in the soil of Kenya’s highlands, planted the seeds that grew into a movement — and then a Nobel Peace Prize. Ellen Johnson Sirleaf shattered political glass ceilings to lead a nation out of its post-war rubble. Lupita Nyong’o dazzled Hollywood to win an Oscar. These are just a few recognisable names in a generation showing the participation and leadership of African women is positively impacting society. And as data collection improves, the numbers are coming in to prove it.
When Ellen Johnson Sirleaf was sworn in as Liberia’s president in 2006, her administration faced a US$4.9 billion national debt and a GDP growth rate of -1.8%. By 2012, she had secured debt relief, stabilised the economy, and laid the groundwork for an 8.7% growth rate — a feat that cemented her legacy as Africa’s first elected female head of state.
Today, her pragmatism is echoed in the leadership of other women on the continent. Tanzania’s President Samia Suluhu Hassan, for example, is recalibrating her nation’s economy while navigating a male-dominated East African political landscape.
International Women’s Day 2025 champions the theme “For ALL women and girls: Rights. Equality. Empowerment.” Now, numbers provided the African Development Bank reveal a compelling case for women: countries with higher female labour participation rates grow their economies faster.
The World Bank estimates that closing the gender gap in Africa could add $2.5 trillion to the continent’s GDP by 2025.
Be it in boardrooms or laboratories, African women are proving that their leadership is not only symbolic but also drives economic transformation.
Sirleaf’s fiscal reforms not only set a precedent, they provided a quantifiable impact. Rwanda, where women hold 61% of parliamentary seats — the highest globally — has seen gender-focused policies drive a 12% reduction in poverty since 2015.
In Ghana, Chief Justice Gertrude Torkornoo’s digitization of court systems has slashed case backlogs by 40%, improving access for marginalized groups.
Yet barriers persist. Only 22% of African ministerial roles are held by women, and just seven nations have achieved gender parity in cabinet positions. Nigerian economist Oby Ezekwesili, co-founder of the #BringBackOurGirls movement, argues this is a misstep: “When women lead, priorities shift. Education, healthcare, and SMEs rise on agendas.”
Funmilayo Ransome-Kuti, who led Nigeria’s first women’s tax strikes in the 1940s, and Lilian Ngoyi, who led a women’s march to the Union buildings in South Africa to protest pass laws in 1956, laid the groundwork for modern activists like South Africa’s Sibongile Mkhabela. Mkhabela’s campaign, Equal Pay Now, aims to narrow South Africa’s gender wage gap through campaigns and corporate litigation.
Meanwhile, Ethiopian entrepreneur Bethlehem Tilahun Alemu turned a $5,000 investment into soleRebels, a sustainable footwear brand that hit $100 million in annual revenue in 2017. Her model —employing 2,500 workers, 80% of them women — has inspired Ethiopia’s industrial parks to reserve 30% of spaces for women-led ventures.
In finance, Nigeria’s Folorunso Alakija transitioned from fashion design to oil, building Famfa Oil into a US$1 billion empire. Her foundation has funded vocational training for 25,000 women since 2010 and her success flies in the face of the fact that African women receive just 3% of global venture capital.
Miriam Makeba’s 1967 album Pata Pata sold over 4 million copies, but her true impact was diplomatic: her UN testimony against apartheid spurred international sanctions. Decades later, Nigerian author Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie’s We Should All Be Feminists has been translated into 50 languages, cited in Swedish school curricula and Beyoncé’s lyrics.
Modern disruptors like Sho Madjozi or Tems, who won a Grammy for Best Melodic Rap, leverage fame for advocacy. Her scholarships have sent 120 Lagos girls to STEM programs since 2022.
Similarly, Lupita Nyong’o’s Oscar win opened doors: African actors now account for 18% of roles in major Hollywood films, up from 4% in 2013, according to some stats.
Zimbabwean virologist Sikhulile Moyo’s identification of the Omicron variant in 2021 highlighted Africa’s scientific prowess, yet the continent accounts for less than 1% of global research funding. Cameroonian tech pioneer Rebecca Enonchong, whose AppsTech serves Fortune 500 companies, notes: “Funding gaps aren’t about merit. They’re about bias.”
Ameenah Gurib-Fakim, former President of Mauritius, has fast-tracked clinical trials for 12 plant-based medicines since 2023, including a COVID-19 antiviral derived from island flora.
Grassroots efforts are also bridging divides. Ghanaian coder Ivy Barley’s Developers in Vogue has trained 10,000 women in AI, with 72% securing tech jobs — critical in a sector where African women hold just 13% of roles.
Somalia’s Ilwad Elman, 34, negotiates with militants to rehabilitate child soldiers at Mogadishu’s Elman Peace Center. 63% of her funding is from private African donations. In Burkina Faso, Aminata Garba’s satellite projects combat drought but operate under constant security threats.
Despite progress, African women spend 200 million hours daily fetching water, and 32 million girls remain out of school. Yet the World Bank confirms: closing gender gaps could inject US$316 billion into Africa’s annual GDP by 2030 — if action matches ambition.
These challenges highlight a stark reality, that while Africa has the highest percentage of women-run SMEs in the world (29%), the World Bank estimates closing the gender credit gap could lift millions more from poverty.
Wangarĩ Maathai once said, “You cannot protect the environment unless you empower women.” On International Women’s Day 2025, her words resonate anew.
As more and more news platforms amplify these narratives, they challenge a global media landscape where African women constitute just 7% of news subjects.
Their stories matter not because they are exceptional but because they are essential — reminding us that when African women thrive, society transforms.
This story was originally published by bird story agency
