By Blossom Ukoha A career does not always move in a straight line. For Emrie Brown, it has looked more like what she calls a “jungle gym” than a traditional ladder, a journey shaped by different roles, unexpected turns, difficult decisions and opportunities to begin again. “Your career can be much more like a jungle gym than the traditional career ladder in your journey to achieve success,” Brown has said. “How you define success and the sacrifices that you are prepared to make, are decisions that will be required along the way and will be different for each person.” Her own career is a powerful illustration of that philosophy. From qualifying as a chartered accountant to becoming an investment banker, taking a temporary step away from the industry to navigate motherhood, returning to RMB and eventually becoming its first woman CEO, Brown’s path demonstrates that professional success does not always follow…

By Blossom Ukoha She is not there as a guest. She is not there to represent a family name or add diversity to a photograph. She is there because she owns the company, leads the strategy, sits on the board or has a decision to make. Outside, Dubai continues to project its familiar image of glass towers, luxury brands and spectacular ambition. But behind that polished skyline, another story is taking shape, one in which Emirati women are increasingly becoming builders of businesses, leaders of institutions and participants in decisions that shape the UAE economy. The numbers tell part of that story. In March 2026, the UAE Ministry of Economy and Tourism reported that the country had 48,257 Emirati women entrepreneurs, while Emirati women owned or co-owned 114,050 SMEs across diverse economic sectors. The National SME Programme alone had attracted 2,700 Emirati women entrepreneurs. These figures matter because entrepreneurship is not…

By Blossom Ukoha For millions of people, a mobile phone is simply a device for communication. In Rwanda, under the leadership of Chantal Umutoni Kagame, it has become something much more powerful: a gateway to financial opportunity. As Chief Executive Officer of Mobile Money Rwanda Limited (MTN MoMo Rwanda), Chantal sits at the centre of one of Rwanda’s most significant digital transformation stories. Her work has helped expand mobile financial services beyond simple money transfers, creating an ecosystem through which people can send and receive money, pay merchants, save, access micro-loans and participate more fully in the formal economy. But Chantal’s journey to the helm of Rwanda’s fintech revolution did not happen overnight. It was built over more than two decades of experience across the country’s telecommunications industry. A Career Built Across Rwanda’s Telecom Industry Chantal holds a Bachelor’s degree in Commerce, specialising in Finance, from the Kigali Institute of…