Joyce Banda was both the first female President and first female Vice President of Malawi, a country in Southeastern Africa. She took presidential office in 2012 following the death of President Bingu wa Mutharika. Banda’s previous political roles include Member of Parliament, Minster for Gender, ...
Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma is a South African politician and activist. While studying Zoology and Botany at the University of Zululand in the 1970s, she became active in the African National Congress (ANC) and the South African Student Organization. In 1976, she left the country to study medicine at ...
Maria do Carmo Silveira was Prime Minister of São Tomé and Príncipe, a small island off the Western coast of Africa, from 2005 and 2006. Silveira also served as the governor of her nation’s Central Bank. As Prime Minister, her paramount goal was to promote macroeconomic stability.
Luisa Diogo became the first female Prime Minister of Mozambique in 2004. Having studied economics, she previously worked as the Minister of Planning and Finance, the National Budget Director of Mozambique’s Finance Ministry, and a World Bank officer. Diogo also works passionately for the ...
Rose Francine Rogombé was both the first female acting President and the first female President of the Senate in Gabon. The senator of Lambaréné, she became President of the Senate in 2009; shortly thereafter, she was named acting President upon the death of President Omar Bongo. Having studied law ...
Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé became the first female Prime Minister of Mali in 2011. In 2012, following a military coup, Sidibe was removed from her position. Her introduction to national politics came when in 1991 she was appointed as Special Adviser to interim President Abadou Toumani Touré and ...
Mame Madior Boye, elected in 2001, was the first female Prime Minister of Senegal. She worked under the supervision of President Abdoulaye Wade until 2002. In 2004, she became the African Union’s Special Representative for the Protection of Civilians in Armed Conflict.
Ruth Perry took office as the leader of Liberia’s transitional government following the end of a seven year long civil war in September of 1996. Ruth Perry oversaw the completion of the disarmament process and encouraged the hope and stability necessary for Liberia to hold democratic elections in ...
