Amazons Watch Magazine
Tag

featured

Browsing
Featured

A Spotlight on the Kenyan Women You Don’t See on the Front Page

A Spotlight on the Women Kenya Doesn’t See on the Front Page

By Blossom Ukoha What if the most important stories about Kenyan women are not the ones making tomorrow morning’s headlines? Open a Kenyan newspaper and the familiar names are easy to find: politicians, business leaders, celebrities and the personalities at the centre of the latest national controversy. But beyond the political drama and celebrity spotlight, thousands of Kenyan women are doing work that may never become front-page news—developing health research, protecting wildlife, responding to climate change, building technology, advancing disability inclusion and strengthening communities. Their influence is often quiet, but its consequences are not. From laboratories and farms to classrooms, rangelands and policy rooms, these women are helping solve some of Kenya’s most difficult problems. They may not dominate the headlines, but they are helping shape the country Kenya will become. Women Changing the Conversation Around Science At the KEMRI-Wellcome Trust Research Programme in Kilifi, Prof. Dorcas Kamuya has built…

Keep Reading
By
Amazons on Boards

Arunma Oteh: The Woman Who Sat at the World Bank’s Top Table

Arunma Oteh: The Woman Who Sat at the World Bank’s Top Table

By Blossom Ukoha On 23 January 2025, Arunma Oteh stood at Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, to launch All Hands on Deck, the book she wrote about how world-class capital markets can help nations, companies and individuals create lasting prosperity. The occasion was part of a two-day celebration of her 60th birthday, which she marked on 24 January. It was a fitting setting for a woman whose career has been defined by capital, institutions and economic development. From Nigeria’s financial markets to the African Development Bank, from the Securities and Exchange Commission to the World Bank Treasury, Oteh has spent decades operating at some of the most consequential levels of African and international finance. Yet her journey to those rooms began without a powerful title. It began with a young Nigerian woman choosing computer science at a time when relatively few women were entering the field and developing the…

Keep Reading
By
Amazons on Boards

Linda Quaynor Rises to UBA Ghana’s Board Chair in Historic First

Linda Quaynor Rises to UBA Ghana’s Board Chair in Historic First

By Blossom Ukoha There is a particular moment in a career when experience stops being measured by the number of positions held and begins to be measured by the weight of responsibility entrusted to you. For Linda Naa Dzama Quaynor, that moment came on 24 August 2026, when years spent navigating consulting, financial services, public policy and corporate strategy culminated in a historic appointment: becoming the first woman to chair the Board of UBA Ghana. Her appointment is significant not simply because she is the first woman to occupy the position. It is also a reflection of a career built across industries, institutions and countries, giving her a perspective that stretches well beyond the traditional boundaries of banking. With more than 25 years of professional experience across Africa and international markets, Quaynor steps into the role with a record shaped by transformation, financial inclusion, governance and strategic leadership. A Career…

Keep Reading
By
Featured

From Gibeon to State House: Lucia Witbooi’s Remarkable Journey

From Gibeon to State House: Lucia Witbooi’s Remarkable Journey

By Blossom Ukoha “Leadership does not always begin in a boardroom, parliament or presidential office. Sometimes, it begins in a classroom.” For Lucia Witbooi, those words reflect more than a belief about leadership. They describe her own journey, from a rural Namibian classroom, where she spent nearly three decades shaping young minds, to the country’s second-highest political office. On 22 March 2025, President Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah appointed Witbooi as Namibia’s Vice President, creating a historic female leadership pairing at the top of the country’s government. For the first time in Namibia’s history, the presidency and vice presidency were simultaneously occupied by women. But Witbooi’s significance extends beyond the symbolism of her appointment. Her journey from a rural teacher to a senior national leader offers a compelling portrait of how education, community service and parliamentary experience can evolve into political leadership. From ǂGabes to the Classroom Witbooi was born on 21 March…

Keep Reading
By
Business Clinique

The Rise of Women in Finance: 9 Lessons from the United Kingdom

The Rise of Women in Finance: 9 Lessons from the United Kingdom

By Blossom Ukoha For decades, women have been an important part of the financial services workforce, yet their presence has not always translated into equal access to senior leadership. The United Kingdom offers a compelling case study of what can happen when gender representation becomes a measurable business priority. Over the past decade, voluntary targets, public reporting and sustained institutional pressure have helped move more women into senior roles. But the progress is measured rather than complete. The latest HM Treasury Women in Finance Charter Annual Review, published in March 2026, and the FTSE Women Leaders Review 2026 show both the gains achieved and the gaps that remain. Here are nine lessons from the UK experience. Voluntary Targets Can Deliver Steady Progress The Women in Finance Charter, launched in 2016, has demonstrated that voluntary commitments can produce measurable results when they are backed by transparency and accountability. According to HM…

Keep Reading
By
Featured

Angélique Kidjo Makes History with Hollywood Walk of Fame Star: The Journey Behind a Historic Moment

Angélique Kidjo Makes History with Hollywood Walk of Fame Star: The Journey Behind a Historic Moment

By Blossom Ukoha “It’s not just my star, it’s our star.” — Angélique Kidjo There are some honours that recognise an individual, and then there are moments that seem to carry the hopes, history and identity of an entire continent. For Angélique Kidjo, the five-time Grammy-winning Beninese singer, songwriter and humanitarian, her Hollywood Walk of Fame star is both. On 18 August 2026, Kidjo became the first African artist to receive a star on the Hollywood Walk of Fame, with the 2,854th star unveiled in the Recording category at 7011 Hollywood Boulevard. The historic recognition marked another extraordinary milestone in a career spanning more than four decades. But the significance of that star cannot be understood by looking only at the ceremony. It begins much earlier, with a young girl growing up in Cotonou, Benin, in a household where creativity was part of everyday life. Before the Global Spotlight, There…

Keep Reading
By
Featured

Are African Institutions Ready for Women at the Top?

Are African Institutions Ready for Women at the Top?

Blossom Ukoha A woman can sit in parliament, earn a university degree, build a successful career and still find that the final door to power is the hardest one to open. Across Africa, women are increasingly visible in politics, business and public institutions, yet their presence often declines sharply as they move closer to the highest levels of decision-making. The picture is therefore neither one of failure nor of full progress. African institutions are becoming more ready for women at the top, but they are not there yet. The numbers tell a complicated story. According to the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), women held 27.1% of parliamentary seats in Sub-Saharan Africa as of January 2026, almost identical to the global figure of 27.5%. East Africa leads the region at 32.0%, followed by Southern Africa at 30.9%, while West Africa stands at only 19.2%. The regional average, however, hides extraordinary differences between countries.…

Keep Reading
By