The women’s movement made great strides in 2017, particularly with the changes seen in business and politics around the treatment of women internationally.
The wind behind these efforts will force more change across the globe and create more opportunities for women.
That said, these are the top women to watch in 2018:
It is hard to take Isabel dos Santos off this list despite the new Angolan president João Lourenço in control and, in the words of some critics, cleaning house from his predecessor José Eduardo dos Santos.
He recently sacked José Filomeno dos Santos as head of the country’s sovereign wealth fund. He theoretically began the process with the removal of Isabel dos Santos as head of Sonangol, the national oil company for Angola. Her removal from power is definitely raising eyebrows with the Angolan elite and stirring up conversations in the investor community. Her critics may be celebrating her demise but such celebration is surely premature.
Isabel remains a major player in the local Angolan market with an active eye towards other African markets and increasing her European investment empire. Still worth more than $3 billion, Isabel wields power in Africa and in Angola. Her impending ascension to the Angolan presidency may not be the storyline anymore. But she remains a major player, especially at the young age of 44.
Yes, Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma lost the African National Congress (ANC) nomination to Cyril Ramaphosa by 179 votes. But many insiders are confident that this is not the end for Nkosazana.
She is the first woman to chair the African Union (AU) and her critics unwillingly concede she is a leader. Yet the Zuma name in the recent internal election to choose the next leader of the ANC became the biggest hurdle in Nkosazana’s path to the presidency (polls suggest the ANC will retain power in the 2019 presidential election, with the ANC leader automatically becoming president).
Recent reports also alleged that President Jacob Zuma suggested that he would step away early if his ex-wife Nkosazana could be made interim president. The idea sounds far-fetched, but she maintains a strong backing within the party.
The feud between Ramaphosa and Zuma factions furthermore can only be quelled by a more engaging and amicable relationship between the two ANC stalwarts at the top, thus Nkosazana will play a significant role in 2018 as the South African election approaches, especially if the ANC is going to win.
Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala is making best efforts to stay focused on her international work. The Nigerian economist has shied away from public life but remains a formidable and overshadowing presence in her home country.
Ngozi currently serves as senior adviser to Lazard and as a non-executive director to Standard Chartered in the U.K. She also chairs the board of the Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI) and the African Risk Capacity (ARC). But it is her two terms as finance minister (2003-2006, 2011-2015) in the Nigerian government that continue to pull her life into the mainstream conversation.
With a Nigerian election around the corner in 2019, former president Olusegun Obasanjo recently revealed in glowing terms why he chose Ngozi as minister of finance in his book “Making Africa Work”, co-authored with Greg Mills, director of Brenthurst Foundation; Jeffrey Herbst, president of NEWSEUM and Dickie Davis, a retired major general.
That high praise juxtaposed with online efforts by critics to create ‘fake news’ videos of her spouting certain political comments very much highlight the power (or at least attention) she maintains in Nigeria.
Nezha Hayat serves as the head of the Moroccan Capital Market Authority, the regulator of the country’s financial markets, and has been an executive at the Casablanca Stock Exchange since 1996.
High profile roles in the country have provided an opening for Nezha to champion women’s rights in the region. She founded and became deputy chair of the Association des Femmes Chefs d’Entreprises du Maroc and is also one of the five founders of the Women Directors’ Club of Morocco, lobbying since 2012 with the backing of the Women Corporate Directors, the world’s largest association of women directors, for more women in the boardrooms of public and private companies.
Many observers believe she is on the rise in a growing African financial capital and has the natural capability to navigate the complex politics of the country. Though she may appear to have little political ambition, her power and voice carries similar weight as other major politicians.
Yes, Yes, Yes…#Blackgirlmagic in the Winter Olympics. It is unusual for Africa to be represented at the Winter Olympics, particularly with a lack of cold (and snow) in the continent. But the Nigerian women bobsled team, led by Akuoma Omeoga, Ngozi Onwumere, and Seun Adigun, is changing that.
The path to the Winter Olympics began with Seun launching a GoFundMe campaign to raise $75,000 for the team’s equipment cost, and now the rest is history. So how can you not watch these girls in 2018?
Kurt Davis Jr. is an investment banker, with private equity experience, focusing on Africa and Middle East. He earned a M.B.A. in finance, entrepreneurship and operations from the University of Chicago and J.D. in tax and commercial law at the University of Virginia’s School of Law. He can be reached at kurt.davis.jr@gmail.com.
