Can the Rise of Women Leaders in Africa Fix Decades of Corruption and a Heavy legacy of Colonialism?

Human Rights Muslims Today Research Notes

by Lamia Ahmed

Throughout the ages, African women have played a pivotal role in the history of their countries, and have contributed effectively to shaping the culture and development of society. There have always been pioneering women who have changed the course of history. This is the warrior queen Amina, Queen of Zazzau (Northern Nigeria), who led armies herself, expanded her country, and recorded great victories for her people. Empress Taitu Betul, who led the Battle of Adwa, the most important Ethiopian epic in confronting occupation. Queen Nzinga Mbande of Angola was seen as a firm negotiator with colonialism, opening her country to refugees, and fighting to protect her people from Portuguese traders and free slaves throughout her reign. The role of women was not limited to individual cases, but the African continent presented dazzling examples of the power of pressure possessed by women’s groups in order to achieve decisive successes, and there is no better evidence of this than the Abeokuta Women’s Union Revolution in Nigeria in 1946, which was a true example of the active role of the women’s community, where about 10,000 women revolted after British colonialism imposed taxes on women, without granting them seats in government or the right to vote, and the women’s revolution, which lasted for months, resulted in a reform of the tax system, and granting women political positions.

During the last century, women played important roles in opposing colonialism and the struggle for liberation in all countries of Africa, and contributed strongly to solving problems, leading armies and leading transitional stages, and played a decisive role during economic, political and health crises, and women were also active in South Africa in the struggle against the apartheid system. However, African women have not been able to overcome gender barriers, and in the post-colonial era have not been able to take their due place in the struggle, nor have they been given their share of leadership positions.

Since the beginning of this century, many female leaders have emerged in Africa, who aspired to play greater roles in leadership and governance in their countries, and struggled to challenge gender discrimination, and relied on adopting the principles of human rights, justice, freedom and dignity guaranteed by the constitution and guaranteed by local and international legal frameworks. Indeed, African countries, thanks to the tireless efforts of women, began to witness women reaching the top of the pyramid of power, accompanied by great achievements in politics, economics, human rights and others.

President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf became the first democratically elected president in Liberia and Africa in 2006. She was a pioneer in calling for peace, justice and democratic governance, and directed tremendous efforts towards empowering women in all areas of life, and increasing their representation in leadership roles in Africa. She also achieved great achievements in the field of reconstruction and development in the post-conflict phase in her country, and was able to pay off all of Liberia’s debts within five years, which qualified her to deserve the Nobel Peace Prize.

In 2012, Joyce Banda was elected as the first female president of Malawi and the second female president on the continent. Banda emerged at the time as the most powerful female leader in Africa, and one of the most prominent in the world. She made great efforts to support development and promote women’s rights in Malawi and abroad, and played an active role in forming many institutions that support this path, such as: the African Union of Women Entrepreneurs, which currently operates in 41 countries in Africa, and the Council for the Economic Empowerment of Women in Africa.

After a career full of local, regional and international positions, Soheila Zewde reached the presidency of the Republic of Ethiopia in 2018, after she was unanimously elected by parliamentarians, to be the first woman to hold this position in the country’s history. She focused her efforts on achieving peace and eliminating poverty with the full participation of women. In 2021, Samia Suluhu assumed the presidency for the first time in the history of Tanzania, and she was known in her country as Mama Samia, which reflects the respect and appreciation she enjoys according to Tanzanian culture.

Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma took over as Chairperson of the African Union in 2012, becoming the first woman to lead the organization. African women have also held leadership positions at the United Nations, the World Trade Organization, the African Union Commission and other regional and international institutions, and have contributed significantly to addressing issues of peace, gender equality, food security, climate change and other pressing issues across the continent.

African women have played a major role in the transitional stages in their countries, and women leaders on the continent have set the best examples in enabling their countries to face challenges and move to a stable civil society, and work to establish peace, reconstruction and support comprehensive development projects.

Women leaders in Sierra Leone represented a model for the central role of women in rebuilding the country after the civil war that ended at the beginning of this century, as the Women’s Forum contributed, among other bodies, to pressuring the warring parties to reach a peace treaty, hold democratic elections and return to civilian rule.

In northern Uganda, women demonstrated to demand an end to the violence that lasted for decades after the country’s independence in the 1960s and continued until the beginning of this century. Women worked hard to raise global awareness about the ongoing conflict, document the violations committed in the country, and support peace and community reconciliation initiatives and the integration of former combatants.

The 2014 elected president of the Central African Republic’s transitional period, Catherine Samba-Panza, is known as one of the prominent women leaders in conflict resolution and mediation in peace processes at all levels: local, regional and international. She succeeded in restoring stability and peace in her country, activating the civil administration that was completely paralyzed due to internal conflict, and holding free and fair elections. She continued to play an active role in women’s leadership, mediation and conflict reduction, and sharing her experience widely.

Women leaders on the continent have exerted great pressure on the ruling authority in many countries to carry out constitutional reforms on issues related to women’s rights and gender equality. In 2013, Zimbabwe adopted a new constitution that recognizes additional rights for women and includes laws that provide protection for them against major challenges, including exclusion from public life, exposure to abuse, violence and harmful practices.

In Kenya, the long struggle for gender equality has led to increased attention at the turn of the century to women’s rights in the country, and the beginning of a series of reforms, notably the adoption of the Sexual Offences Act, the Labour Code, the Protection from Domestic Violence Act and the ratification of a constitution that guarantees legal equality between the sexes, including political participation. The efforts of women leaders have also led to constitutional reforms in Mali, Malawi, Tanzania and other African countries, to improve the legal and constitutional status of women in society.

Women’s groups on the continent have also successfully lobbied for the ratification of the Protocol on the Rights of Women in Africa, annexed to the African Charter on Human and Peoples’ Rights, which was adopted by the General Assembly of Heads of State and Government of the African Union in Maputo in 2003. It stipulates the elimination of all forms of discrimination against women and the guarantee of all their civil, political, economic, social, health and cultural rights as stipulated in international treaties and agreements.

Since the late twentieth century, women leaders in Africa have been distinguished by their ability to represent society and participate practically at all levels. They have participated extensively in the second row of leadership and have been involved in work within various executive bodies. Women have served as deputy heads of state, prime ministers, ministers and deputies in legislative councils, and many of them have held senior government executive positions.

At the beginning of 2024, the share of women in parliaments across sub-Saharan Africa reached 27.3%, recording the third highest percentage among all regions of the world, according to data from the Inter-Parliamentary Union. Rwanda tops the list globally, with the percentage of women in its parliament reaching 61.3%. High quotas for women elected to parliament were also recorded in Zimbabwe and Eswatini, reaching 45% and 43.3%, respectively.

African women have been active in the commercial and business sectors, and McKinsey Global Institute reports have revealed that a quarter of the members of the boards of directors of African companies are now women, indicating the effectiveness of women in managing senior positions and engaging in work within the financial and commercial sectors with merit in all African countries.

Women leaders in the African continent seek to empower women in all areas of life, and have made progress on the ground in reducing gender discrimination through active participation in a wide range of societal issues, including politics, economics, supporting community welfare, social development, security, peacebuilding, addressing environmental problems, and contributing to science, arts, technology, and creative industries.

Despite this, African women still occupy a limited space in decision-making and societal representation, given their latent capabilities, due to political systems and beliefs and social and cultural norms that suppress women’s leadership. For example, Nigeria is ranked among the last five countries in the world in terms of women’s representation in parliament, due to institutional, social, and cultural factors that prevent them from participating in politics on an equal footing with men.

Women also face exclusion in peace negotiations in various conflict zones such as the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Chad, Sudan and the Tigray conflict, for many reasons, the most important of which are: cultural norms, poor coordination between all parties, and lack of funding for women’s institutions working in this field.

Despite the resilience of women leaders, their ability to break many barriers and their ability to deal flexibly with various developments and adapt to different societal situations, there are still many gaps in gender equality in Africa that require great efforts to bridge, such as economic empowerment and equal employment opportunities, equality in health care, education, training and technological advancement, and freedom from gender-based violence.

 

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