As we celebrate women from across the world for their individual and collective contributions and accomplishments, one thing that stands tall is the emergence of women leaders in various sectors such as business, governance, politics, entertainment and media across Africa.
With the global theme for 2019 as Balance for Better, it is prudent we get to celebrate & learn from the lives of African women who have achieved outstanding milestones in their careers and have become a beacon of hope and role models for the next generation.
From humble beginnings in the Banking, Technology, Mining & Taxation sectors, these women have established a sterling career which affords them the opportunity to lead various multinational organisations in discharging exceptional results with a remarkable combined working experience which sums up to about 100 years.
In celebration of these Ghanaian women, I am delighted to write about these 5 game changers and change agents who beyond their official duties also commit their time, energy and personal resources in supporting individuals & communities through various mentoring programmes & foundations.
For young people looking for role models to look up to and help advance their careers, here are 5 Inspiring Ghanaian Female Business Leaders inspiring the next generation of women in Ghana and Africa.
Angela Kyerematen-Jimoh
Country General Manager, IBM Ghana
As the first female Country General Manager of IBM in Africa, Angela has distinguished herself among business leaders who have led Fortune 100 companies across the African continent to an incredible performance in business amidst competition.
As a seasoned marketer with over 18 years’ experience in marketing and sales, she is noted to have pioneered some of the largest deals in both West and East Africa for IBM.
Before joining IBM, Angela started her career in London at GL Trade, later moved to ABN AMRO Futures and Options, UBS Investment Bank before returning to Africa to work with UBA Bank Ghana and GT Bank Ghana.
With multiple renowned international awards to her credit, Angela is noted as one of the top corporate women leaders in Ghana.
As a philanthropist, Angela adopted Siti, a remote community in the Eastern Region in Ghana where she has built a borehole, currently working on a solar-enabled electricity project and has plans to build a nursery school.
As a thought leader and mentor to several university students, Angela serves as a keynote speaker at various events across Ghana and also runs a special weekly coding class for young girls from the Nima community in Accra.
Angela is a graduate of Harvard Business School in Leadership Development, holds an MSc in International Business, BA in Marketing and French and a product of Achimota College and Wesley Girls High School in Ghana.
Abiola Bawuah
Regional CEO, UBA West Africa 1
Adjudged as the 2016 CIMG Marketing Woman of the Year, Mrs. Bawuah is the Regional CEO, West Africa 1 for the United Bank of Africa (UBA)
With enormous experience in retail banking and marketing, Mrs Bawuah had previously worked as an Executive Director at Zenith Bank as well as a Business Financial Manager at Standard Chartered Bank, Deputy MD and later MD/CEO of UBA Ghana.
As an alumnus of the Harvard Business School, Columbia, University of New York, INSEAD and Institut Villa Pierrefeu in Switzerland, Mrs Bawuah also holds a BSc in Actuarial Science from the University of Lagos, Nigeria, an LLB with honors from the University of London, a diploma in Marketing from GIMPA and an EMBA (Finance) from the University of Ghana.
As a regular speaker at mentoring events, Mrs Bawuah is also the founder of the Abiola Bawuah Foundation through which she supports girls under the 100 Girls Support Project. She has also committed a 100,000 Cedis fund towards the publication of books under the foundation.
Adiki Ofeibea Ayitevie
Vice President, Sustainability & External Relations at Newmont Mining Corporation
Adjudged as the PR Personality of the year 2017, Adiki Ofeibea Ayitevie is the Vice President in charge of Sustainability and External Relations at Newmont Africa.
With more than 22 years of combined experience in the public relations and journalism fields, Ms. Ayitevie is an accomplished and well-respected communications professional. Her current role makes her an overseer of Communications and External Relations of Newmont Mining’s Africa operations.
Prior to joining Newmont, she has worked with the Public Agenda, SGSSB Limited, Volta River Authority and as a private consultant to a range of non-government and private organizations in Ghana.
Adiki is also a mentor to a lot of PR professionals and as a thought leader, is a keynote speaker and resource person at diverse programmes across the continent.
Ayesha Bedwei
Partner, PwC Ghana
Ayesha Bedwei is a Partner in PwC Ghana with specialisation in Tax advisory services. Her role in PwC extends to the areas of Corporate Responsibility and Diversity & Inclusion, Energy and Learning & Education.
With over 18 years’ experience in the finance and accounting field, Ayesha has been involved in a wide array of projects and has built up a network of influential clients and associates during her professional career.
Ayesha is a regular keynote speaker at various tax and regulatory focused forums covering several African territories and is also passionate about topics of leadership and career development. As a passionate change agent, she founded a career advisory blog, careers1825.com which is targeted at people between the ages of 18 and 25 and 5taxminutes.com, which discusses tax matters in an easy-to-understand format.
With multiple awards to her credit, Ayesha is a member of the prestigious African Leadership Network (ALN) and has been on the judging panel for ALN’s Africa Awards for Entrepreneurship.
Mansa Nettey
CEO, Standard Chartered Bank Ghana
As the first female CEO of Standard Chartered Bank in Ghana, Mansa Nettey graduated as a pharmacist from KNUST before furthering her studies at the Manchester Business School.
With over 20 years’ experience in the Banking Sector, Mansa sits on the Board of Directors at Standard Chartered Bank Nigeria Limited and the Standard Chartered Bank Ghana Limited.
Mansa started her career at Standard Chartered, as a Relationship Manager and later became head of foreign exchange sales in Ghana and across West Africa and was also the head of the Financial Markets in Ghana
Notable among her philanthropic commitments is the founding of the Leukemia Project Foundation, an initiative she started after battling with leukemia. Through her foundation, she has organised various activities which have created public awareness and has been used as an avenue to raise funds.
Authored by Prince Akpah, MD of Avance Media & Founder of Be A Girl initiative.
