Africa's 50 Most Powerful Women

This is a first-of-its-kind pan-african compilation of the continent’s leading women, drawn from business, politics, media, science, sports and public life, who are challenging the status quo and creating a trail on terrain where there was none. They are reshaping history, closing inequalities and pioneering new avenues of wealth creation and in turn, lifting others with them.

- Mashokane Mahlo

The privilege of new beginnings is reflection. At the commencement of the new decade, and as the pursuit for personal and continental progress endures, it’s the ideological contemplation of what ‘power’ is that challenged FORBES AFRICA to compile an unprecedented, unranked listing of Africa’s 50 most powerful women. We examine ‘power’ as more than wealth, assets, control or accomplishment. We explore ‘power’ as a utility of success. The stories, journeys and current efforts of all the women uncover the truth of the great African proverb: “When sleeping women wake, mountains move.” The list on the following pages is in no particular order.

‘POWER IS PROVOKING POSITIVE IMPACT’

Graça Machel’s name will be etched in history as a political activist, public servant, global humanitarian and advocate for the rights of women and children. Dressed in a regal purple suit, and sporting a chic new look and hairdo, she arrives for an exclusive FORBES AFRICA photoshoot late January, in a studio in a leafy suburb of Johannesburg, South Africa. With an alluring aura and a disarming “hello”, she puts the team at ease, and shares her personal odyssey including her journey as a social entrepreneur through the Graça Machel Trust that she founded. Excerpts from the interview:

You were born in 1945, the youngest of six children. What was it like growing up?

I was born three weeks after my father passed away, and my mother was a widow at the time, but I am [fortunate as] it was always a very loving environment. I was given solid foundations to provide me with a very clear value system. I had the guidance, even in those old days, to be myself within my family, within society, but to also be a child and person connected to others. My inclination for social work comes from the foundations I received from my family.