Every year since 2011, Forbes has 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 4th year, the list celebrates 20 influential female leaders, groundbreakers and ceiling crashers who are transforming the continent from their communities.
Here are the Nigerians who made the 20 Youngest Power Women in Africa: the continent’s emerging power brokers, the Amazons to watch, and the custodians of tomorrow.
Ada Osakwe, Nigerian, Adviser to the Minister Federal Ministry of Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria
Nigeria’s agricultural sector has attracted more than $4 billion in private sector investment commitments over the last year, and Ada Osakwe is an integral reason why. Osakwe, 34, currently serves as the Senior Investment Adviser to Nigerian Minister of Agriculture, Akinwunmi Adesina. She works directly with the minister, advising him on his policies regarding private sector investments into the food and agriculture sector. Osakwe also interacts with current and prospective agribusiness investors and champions innovative approaches to channel sustainable private sector engagements in the sector. Previously, she served as Vice President of Kuramo Capital, a New York-based investment management firm. She also worked in various capacities at the African Development Bank.
Amy Jadesimi, Nigerian, Managing Director, LADOL
The 39-year-old Nigerian businesswoman is the Managing Director of the Lagos Deep Offshore Logistics Base (LADOL), Nigeria’s only indigenous-owned deep offshore logistics base. Jadesimi earned a BA in physiological sciences at Oxford University, and then went on to work for the investment banking division of Goldman Sachs in London. She subsequently attended Stanford Business School, where she earned her MBA, and returned to Nigeria to set up a financial consultancy outfit before joining LADOL (a company founded by her father) as Managing Director. Since it was founded in 2001, LADOL has turned a former industrial wasteland into a $500 million industrial village and specialised port facility, providing an environment in which high value operations, such as oil and gas drilling and production support, ship building and repairs, specialised manufacturing and engineering can take place 24/7 in a secure Free Zone. The second phase of the LADOL development is currently ongoing and it includes Nigeria’s single largest local content development – a $300 million investment in West Africa’s largest vessel fabrication and integration yards. LADOL Free Zone was created to make Nigeria the hub for West African maritime and oil and gas activities through long-term investment in world class facilities and services. Jadesimi is spearheading this vision.
Rimini Makama, Nigerian, Director, Africa Practice
Rimini Makama, 34, is the Communications Director at Africa Practice, Africa’s foremost strategy and communications consultancy. Over the last half a decade, Makama has successfully introduced some of the largest international institutions on the continent and beyond into the Nigerian market, simultaneously helping to strategically position them as key players in their industry and encouraging foreign investment in the country. Some of her clients include BlackBerry, Union Bank, Renaissance Capital, Bloomberg, Western Union, World Economic Forum Africa, The Africa Union and Paypal. Rimini has a background in law and after obtaining a BL from the Nigerian Law School and an LLM in International Law and World Order. Prior to a career in communications, she joined the Office of Legal Affairs at the International Criminal Police Organisation (INTERPOL) in Lyon, France where she worked as a lawyer primarily reviewing notices and individual requests safeguarding international security and safety across borders. She also drafted cooperation agreements among the 190 member countries.
Afua Osei (Ghanaian and Yasmin Belo-Osagie (Nigerian), Co-Founders, She leads Africa
Yasmin Belo-Osagie and Afua Osei, both 27, are co-founders of She Leads Africa, a platform that provides the most talented female entrepreneurs across the continent with access to the knowledge, networks and financing needed to build and scale strong businesses. Their goal is to jumpstart female entrepreneurs from SMEs to pan-African industry leaders, and they are certainly on the way. Within less than a year, and while juggling full-time positions at McKinsey & Company, Yasmin and Afua successfully launched an entrepreneurship showcase competition which drew close to 400 applications from 27 countries and multiple industries. To date, the two have recruited nearly 1,000 women-led start-ups into their network; their goal is to engage at least 10,000 female entrepreneurs in 2015. She Leads Africa is set to become a staple of the African investment community with VC funds already seeking access to its database of female entrepreneurs. It has the potential to become the 500 Startups of Africa. Its leaders are two young women who are positioned to significantly increase the volume and impact of female entrepreneurs.
Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, Nigerian, Social entrepreneur
Ogunsiji, 31, is the Founder of RISE NETWORKS, a Nigeria-based private and public sector funded youth interest social enterprise with a primary focus on wholesome youth and education development. The organisation focuses on creating intellectual development and capacity building programmes for young Nigerians between 16 and 30 and receives generous support from several state governments and blue-chip companies. Ogunsiji is an alumnus of the United States government’s International Visitor Leadership Program.
Adiat Disu, Nigerian, Founder, African Fashion Week
Adiat Disu, 27, is an international publicist and founder of Adirée, a New York-based communications and brand strategy company. In 2009, Adirée launched the annual Africa Fashion Week in New York, one of the most popular international African-focused fashion events, in an effort to place structure around Africa’s fashion industry and promote international economic partnerships while promoting brands from Africa on a global scale. It has been a resounding success. Disu and Adirée are also working on hosting other international African Fashion Weeks in other fashion capitals of the world including Paris, Milan, London and Tokyo.
Other women from the African continent who made the list are:
•Fatima-Zahra Mansouri, Moroccan, Mayor of Marrakech
•Naisula Lesuuda, Senator, Kenya
•Jamila Abass, Linda Kwamboka, and Susan Oguya, Kenyan, Co-founders, MFarm
•Tabetha Kanengoni Malinga, Zimbabwean, Deputy Minister of Sport, Arts and Culture
•Amira Elmissiry, Zimbabwean, Special Assistant to the President of the African Development Bank
•Phumzile Van Damme, South African, Member Of Parliament
•Tebogo Mashego, South African, Entrepreneur
•Naadiya Moosajee, South African, Co-founder, Women In Engineering
•Irene Koki Mutungi, Kenyan, Pilot
•Yvonne Khamati, Kenyan, Deputy Head of Mission at Kenya Embassy, Somalia
•Kamayirese Germaine, Rwandese, State Minister for Energy and Water, Rwanda
Tribune
Related stories: Video - More women taking the lead in Nigeria's oil sector
Nigeria petroleum Minister appointed OPEC President
Tuesday, December 9, 2014
Video - Dependency on oil could be trouble for Nigeria
With its new found status, the country's policies are under severe testing. The economy just lost about 40 billion dollars, thanks to devaluation of the naira, a policy decision that followed severe foreign exchange losses as the country tried to protect its currency from depreciation as a result of falling oil revenue.
Related story: Nigeria cuts oil price benchmark due to falling global oil prices
108 out 275 escaped prisoners recaptured in Nigeria
The Nigerian Prisons Service (NPS) has recaptured 108 inmates out of 275 prisoners that escaped from the Medium Security Prison in Minna, Niger State on last Saturday.
The new Controller-General of Prisons (CGP), Dr. Peter Ekpendu, disclosed this on Monday in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer (PRO), NPS, Mr. Ope Fatinikun.
According to Ekpendu, the inmates were recaptured through the combined efforts of the military, security and intelligence agencies and cooperation of the surrounding communities.
He said a search party comprising the Nigerian Army, Directorate of State Security (DSS), police and prisons are still conducting investigation and search around the neighbouring states, adding that the incidence is not a terrorist attack but an attempted jailbreak.
The CGP appealed to communities and neighbouring states of Kwara, Kaduna, Kebbi and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be vigilant and watch out for any suspicious movement around and report such person(s) to the nearest police stations or prisons formations.
Meanwhile, he noted that a total of 166 inmates are still at large.
“The total number of inmates in the prisons custody as at today is 157, which includes 49 inmates that did not escape,” he said.
This Day
Related story: More than 200 prisoners escape in mass prison jailbreak in Nigeria
The new Controller-General of Prisons (CGP), Dr. Peter Ekpendu, disclosed this on Monday in a statement signed by the Public Relations Officer (PRO), NPS, Mr. Ope Fatinikun.
According to Ekpendu, the inmates were recaptured through the combined efforts of the military, security and intelligence agencies and cooperation of the surrounding communities.
He said a search party comprising the Nigerian Army, Directorate of State Security (DSS), police and prisons are still conducting investigation and search around the neighbouring states, adding that the incidence is not a terrorist attack but an attempted jailbreak.
The CGP appealed to communities and neighbouring states of Kwara, Kaduna, Kebbi and Federal Capital Territory (FCT) to be vigilant and watch out for any suspicious movement around and report such person(s) to the nearest police stations or prisons formations.
Meanwhile, he noted that a total of 166 inmates are still at large.
“The total number of inmates in the prisons custody as at today is 157, which includes 49 inmates that did not escape,” he said.
This Day
Related story: More than 200 prisoners escape in mass prison jailbreak in Nigeria
Monday, December 8, 2014
Boko Haram cameraman arrested
The Nigerian military on Monday said it arrested a terrorist photographer in a community in Adamawa state.
The man, who was arrested alongside other terrorists, specialises in taking photographs and shooting videos of the terrorists’ activities in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.
They were arrested during a patrol, surveillance and raid operations to track fleeing terrorists in Adamawa environs.
The spokesperson for the Defence Headquarters, Chris Olukolade, said four of the terrorists, who tried to escape in an SUV jeep with a digital camera and weapons have been taken into custody.
As the Nigerian troops continue to sustain their offensive against terrorists in North-Eastern Nigeria, more arrests are being made and terrorists are being killed, officials said.
Mr. Olukolade said the arrested terrorists are helping ongoing investigations in one of the military barracks in the country.
Related story: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
The man, who was arrested alongside other terrorists, specialises in taking photographs and shooting videos of the terrorists’ activities in the North Eastern part of Nigeria.
They were arrested during a patrol, surveillance and raid operations to track fleeing terrorists in Adamawa environs.
The spokesperson for the Defence Headquarters, Chris Olukolade, said four of the terrorists, who tried to escape in an SUV jeep with a digital camera and weapons have been taken into custody.
As the Nigerian troops continue to sustain their offensive against terrorists in North-Eastern Nigeria, more arrests are being made and terrorists are being killed, officials said.
Mr. Olukolade said the arrested terrorists are helping ongoing investigations in one of the military barracks in the country.
Related story: Video - The state of Nigerian governance and Boko Haram
Former Super Eagle Sunday Oliseh fears for the future of Nigerian football
Former Nigeria captain Sunday Oliseh believes the glory days of the country's national team will not return unless they "get their house in order".
Nigeria have been on a downward spiral in the past year and failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
Oliseh told BBC Sport: "We have got technical problems and administrative problems - it is too much for one nation, even if you are Nigeria.
"At the moment it is bleak. We need to face up to the job and get organised."
Oliseh knows what it takes to achieve success, having been part of the Nigeria squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994 and the Olympic gold medal two years later.
He also played at the World Cup in 1994 and 1998, helping the Super Eagles to the last-16 at both tournaments and in the latter he scored a memorable winner as Nigeria shocked Spain 3-2 in a group match.
Those teams were filled with players referred to as the "golden generation" of Nigerian football; among them were Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George.
But Oliseh cannot see where the next generation is going to come from.
"During the 1990s a lot of the players were products of the Nigerian league. Those who were playing in Europe had only left two or three years before. Myself, I had moved to Europe only four years before the 1994 World Cup.
"It was not as if it was Europe that made us - the Nigerian league produced us;, it was so competitive then, it was viable and credible.
"The national team does not create players - you select your best players from your clubs to play in the national team.
"But now our attention is more focused on the national team and we have neglected the domestic league, that is the major problem in Nigerian football.
"If we cannot get the league in order we will never have another golden generation."
The former Ajax and Juventus midfielder, who played 63 times for his country, is also concerned about the issues off the field.
Nigeria's Football Federation is in disarray because of in-fighting over the presidency - ongoing battles that have led Fifa to ban the team for governmental interference in football matters.
In decline
And there has been instability in management, with coach Stephen Keshi removed from his position only to be re-appointed following intervention by President Goodluck Jonathan before being released again after his side were eliminated from Nations Cup qualifying.
It was only in 2013 that Keshi led Nigeria to the Nations Cup title in South Africa and he also steered the team to the last-16 at this summer's World Cup in Brazil.
Nigeria's fall since then has been rapid. And Oliseh believes there needs to be consistency as well as clear boundaries over roles.
"To fix it we have to get our house in order," he said. "And it is not too far fetched, the solution to this. For example, if we have a Football Federation president who is doing well, let's leave him in the job.
"It is great that Nigerian are passionate about football, that they have opinions like a coach. But in reality, everybody thinks they know football - not because they play football but because they know football. It doesn't work like that.
"We need to let people who are technicians do the technical work. If you are going to talk about tactics or physical, let that be somebody who has that expertise."
BBC
Related story: Nigeria Super Eagles can't land kit sponsors after failure to qualify for AFCON 2015
Nigeria have been on a downward spiral in the past year and failed to qualify for the 2015 Africa Cup of Nations.
Oliseh told BBC Sport: "We have got technical problems and administrative problems - it is too much for one nation, even if you are Nigeria.
"At the moment it is bleak. We need to face up to the job and get organised."
Oliseh knows what it takes to achieve success, having been part of the Nigeria squad that won the Africa Cup of Nations in 1994 and the Olympic gold medal two years later.
He also played at the World Cup in 1994 and 1998, helping the Super Eagles to the last-16 at both tournaments and in the latter he scored a memorable winner as Nigeria shocked Spain 3-2 in a group match.
Those teams were filled with players referred to as the "golden generation" of Nigerian football; among them were Jay-Jay Okocha, Nwankwo Kanu and Finidi George.
But Oliseh cannot see where the next generation is going to come from.
"During the 1990s a lot of the players were products of the Nigerian league. Those who were playing in Europe had only left two or three years before. Myself, I had moved to Europe only four years before the 1994 World Cup.
"It was not as if it was Europe that made us - the Nigerian league produced us;, it was so competitive then, it was viable and credible.
"The national team does not create players - you select your best players from your clubs to play in the national team.
"But now our attention is more focused on the national team and we have neglected the domestic league, that is the major problem in Nigerian football.
"If we cannot get the league in order we will never have another golden generation."
The former Ajax and Juventus midfielder, who played 63 times for his country, is also concerned about the issues off the field.
Nigeria's Football Federation is in disarray because of in-fighting over the presidency - ongoing battles that have led Fifa to ban the team for governmental interference in football matters.
In decline
And there has been instability in management, with coach Stephen Keshi removed from his position only to be re-appointed following intervention by President Goodluck Jonathan before being released again after his side were eliminated from Nations Cup qualifying.
It was only in 2013 that Keshi led Nigeria to the Nations Cup title in South Africa and he also steered the team to the last-16 at this summer's World Cup in Brazil.
Nigeria's fall since then has been rapid. And Oliseh believes there needs to be consistency as well as clear boundaries over roles.
"To fix it we have to get our house in order," he said. "And it is not too far fetched, the solution to this. For example, if we have a Football Federation president who is doing well, let's leave him in the job.
"It is great that Nigerian are passionate about football, that they have opinions like a coach. But in reality, everybody thinks they know football - not because they play football but because they know football. It doesn't work like that.
"We need to let people who are technicians do the technical work. If you are going to talk about tactics or physical, let that be somebody who has that expertise."
BBC
Related story: Nigeria Super Eagles can't land kit sponsors after failure to qualify for AFCON 2015
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