Every year since 2011, I have enlisted readers’ help to identify
20 young, extraordinary and inspiring African women, aged 45 and under, who are
making the most dramatic impact in individual African countries in the world of
politics, business, technology, policy, diplomacy and media for the annual
tally of the 20
Youngest Power Women In Africa. Now in its 4thyear, the
list celebrates 20 influential female leaders, groundbreakers and ceiling
crashers who are transforming the continent from their communities.
Following my November request for nominations, I received more
than 700 nominations – many familiar names, others not so familiar. But each
one of them has one thing in common: they are doers. They are resolute in their
resolve to change, to build, inspire and transform. And they are out there
making it happen. They are change makers, trendsetters, visionaries and
thinkers, builders, and young global leaders. They are at the vanguard of
Africa’s imminent socio-economic revolution and its contemporary renaissance.
Meet the 2014 class of the 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa: the
continent’s emerging power brokers, the Amazons to watch, and the custodians of
tomorrow.