Princess Fifi Ekanem Ejindu

Offiong Ekanem Ejindu is the CEO of Building Supports Systems and Principal partner of the Starcrest Group of Companies. She is also the Founder of The African Arts and Fashion initiative and has been severally acclaimed as one of the leading female architects in Nigeria. She is popularly known as ‘Princess Fifi Ekanem EJindu’, deriving from her name Offiong and her royal ancestry. Princess Fifi holds the title of Her Royal Highness Obongawan King James, a title inherited from her mother.

Ejindu graduated with a B.Arch degree in 1983 from Pratt Institute, a private design college in Brooklyn, New York; one of the first African women to be awarded a Bachelor in Architecture from the Institution. Upon graduation, she enrolled at Massachusetts Institute of Technology where she took some courses before taking a job at Grant Associates in New York City. She later returned to Pratt Institute for her Masters in Urban Planning before relocating to Nigeria.

Hungry for something indigenously innovative, she went on to start the Starcrest Group of Companies made up of Starcrest Investment Limited, Starcrest Associates Limited, and Starcrest Industries Limited. These subsidiaries engage in real estate management, construction, building and designing, oil and gas, project management, youth empowerment, and investment opportunities. Under her leadership, the Starcrest Investment limited sought and secured the support of former President of Nigeria, Chief Olusegun Obasanjo in influencing fifty prominent business owners from the United Arab Emirates to invest in different sectors of the Nigerian economy – a move that created job opportunities for Nigerians and increased the country’s Gross Domestic Product (GDP).

Her excellent architectural designs have been a point of reference among elite circles and earned her recommendations to handle high-profile building projects. Her career success is a clear illustration of the saying that ‘there is no hiding place for a golden fish’.

 

 

 

“Be diligent in your craft” she says, “You have no idea how far it will travel”.

She launched The African Arts and Fashion Initiative in August 2013, at The Dorchester Hotel, London, as a means of showcasing and promoting the rich African culture and talent, and empowering her youths. The initiative organizes exhibitions and dialogues to advertise and promote the African arts and antiques, African fashion style, African music and all other things made in Africa.

Princess Ejindu served on the 11-man technical committee set up by the government of Akwa Ibom state to attract foreign direct investment (FDI) to the state, and is also a current member of the Nigerian National Heritage Council. She has several accolades and awards including the “Honorary Patron Membership” of the elite Dubai Icons Club, the “Diaspora Excellence Award” in 2015, as well as the “Lifetime Achievement Award” from the African Achievers Awards in 2013. She was pronounced winner of “The Nigerian Golden Book Professional Icon Award” in 2015, winner of the 2014 African Child Nobel Prize, and was enlisted into the Global Women Leaders Hall of Fame – African Chapter. Ejindu’s career achievements gained her recognition as one of the Top Twenty Inspirational Women in 2015 by the African Diaspora Professional Women in Europe (ADIPWE).

She is a strong promoter of empowerment programmes for the poor, poverty eradication and bridging the gap for sustainable development and economic empowerment, in line with her mantra; “A system that cannot rescue its poor cannot save its rich on the day of reckoning.”

According to her, women can be the star whatever path they choose to take. In her words, “the three Ds for the African Woman to thrive are – Desire, Drive and Determination”, all of which she has modeled with her life’s achievements. She is the Herstory Woman of the Week.

References

1. Princess Fifi Ejindu – Biography And Net Worth Of CEO Of Building Support Systems. https://www.entrepreneurs.ng/fifi-ejindu/ Accessed on 22 August 2019.
2. Princess Fifi Ekanem Ejindu. https://celdng.org/princess-fifi-ekanem-ejindu/ Accessed on 22 August 2019.

Sola David-Borha receiving the Business Woman of the Year Award, for Africa 2016

Sola David-Borha is the Chief Executive Officer (Africa Regions) of the Standard Bank Group. Prior to this, she was the Chief Executive Officer, Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. – a full-service financial services group with holdings in Commercial Banking, Investment Banking, Pension and Non-Pension Asset Management and Stockbroking. She also currently serves as the Vice-Chairman of the board of the Nigerian Economic Summit Group (NESG).

She started out her banking career at the NAL Merchant Bank (now known as Sterling Bank), where she worked in the Credit and Marketing Department from 1984 to 1989, before joining Investment Banking and Trust Company (IBTC), which later merged with two commercial banks to become IBTC Chartered. When the Standard Bank Group acquired IBTC in 2007, she was appointed to serve as Deputy Chief Executive of the Bank and Head of IB Coverage Africa, and she rose to become CEO of Stanbic IBTC Bank in 2011 and CEO of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. in 2012.

Her outstanding achievements in these executive roles earned her the ‘Business Woman of the Year’ award for the West Africa Region, and the ‘Business Woman of the Year for Africa’, both from the All Africa Business Leaders Awards in 2016. Shortly after receiving these awards, she resigned from her position as CEO of Stanbic IBTC Holdings Plc. to assume her current position. She leads the Stanbic Group’s African financial operations, executing duties that range from governance to risk control and expansion.

Sola holds a first degree in Economics from the University of Ibadan, Nigeria, and an MBA from the Manchester Business School. She also attended the Advanced Management Program at Harvard Business School and the Global CEO Program jointly offered by Wharton (US), IESE (Spain) and CEIBS (Shanghai), all of which equipped her with the executive skills required to excel in her roles.

Sola is the Chairman, Stanbic IBTC Stockbrokers Ltd. She also serves on the Board of various firms including Coca-Cola, CRC Credit Bureau Ltd., Fate Foundation, and the  University of Ibadan Business School, among others.

Asked about the challenges of pursuing a successful banking career as a woman, she said; “Every career has its challenges. The important thing is not allowing those challenges to distract you; whether it’s your gender, your race, or your religion, you must remain focused on how you can improve your skills and your knowledge base. Remain professional no matter what circumstances you find yourself, and conduct yourself with integrity. Invariably, the promotions will come.”

Her advice to young women professionals: “You’ve got to conduct yourself in a way that is above board, even if this is to your own cost. You can’t control all the variables, so don’t worry about the things you can’t control, but the variables that you can control, and your own behaviour, stay focused on these. The others will sort themselves out.”

Sola David-Borha is an embodiment of feminine grit and determination, manifested in creativity and hard work that have seen her to the top of her career. She is the Herstory  Woman of the Week.

References

1. Meet Standard Bank’s new African Regions boss, Sola David-Borha https://cfo.co.za/article/interview-standard-bank-african-regions-boss-sola-david-borha accessed 15 October 15, 2019.
2. Sola David Borha, husband and biography. https://www.legit.ng/1149918-sola-david-borha-husband-biography.html. Accessed 15 October, 2019.
3. Business Leaders; Olusola Adejoke David-Borha. https://www.marketscreener.com/business-leaders/Olusola-David-Borha-09KFFB-E/biography/ . Accessed 15 October, 2019.

Ilhan Omar is a Somali-born American lawmaker who currently serves as a member of the United States’ House of Representative for Minnesota’s District 5, having been elected in 2018. In 2016, she served as a member of the Minnesota House of Representatives from 60B district, where she became the first naturalized African, and one of the first two Muslim women to occupy the position.

She started her career in 2006 as a Community Nutrition Educator with the University of Minnesota for three years before moving on to the Minnesota Department of Education as the Coordinator for child nutrition campaign. At about the same time, she made a bold dabble into politics, working with Kari Dziedzic as Campaign Manager for his senatorial re-election. In 2015, she fully launched into advocacy, working as the Director of Policy Initiatives of the Women Organizing Women Network, through which she advocated the inclusion of East African women in political leadership.

She went into elective politics in 2016, when she contested and won the Minnesota House of Representatives election under the platform of Democratic-Farmer-Labor (DFL). Her tenure in the state legislature was defined by the spearheading and enactment of different bills, particularly for advancing the standard of living in the state. Her achievements delivered her political victory when she went a step further to contest a seat in the US House of Representatives in 2018. Since then, she has continued to promote people-friendly laws including the free tuition for indigent college students, access sound health care for all, and cancelation of students’ meal debts incurred by low low-income earning families in the US.

She also advocates the promotion of human rights in the crisis-torn Yemen through her public criticisms of Saudi-Arabia’s intervention in the state. She is a world-class advocate with leadership that demonstrates clear concerns for better welfare for humanity; Ilhan Omar is our woman of the week.

Sources

1. O’Grady, Siobhán (2018). Trump demonized Somali refugees in Minnesota. One of them just won a seat in Congress. The Washington Post. https://web.archive.org/web/20190313005712/https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/2018/11/07/trump-demonized-somali-refugees-minnesota-one-them-just-won-seat-congress/?utm_term=.9bb3be948c54
2. Armin Rosen. (2018). https://www.tabletmag.com/scroll/263826/as-keith-ellison-leaves-congress-one-likely-replacement-faces-criticism-for-anti-israel-views
3. Ilhan’s Story (n.d.). https://web.archive.org/web/20161106032533/https://www.ilhanomar.com/bio
4. Ryan Faircloth. (2016). Debate spotlights veteran, newcomers. Minnesota Day. https://www.mndaily.cOm/article/2016/08/debate-spotlights-veteran-newcomers
5. Ola Salem (2018). Saudi Arabia Declares War on America’s Muslim Congresswomen. Foreign Policy. https://foreignpolicy.com/2018/12/11/saudi-arabia-declares-war-on-americas-muslim-congresswomen/

Schuster started her professional career as an academic, before making a switch into the financial industry. She first ventured into mainstream politics in 2005 when she contested and won a seat at the German Bundestag representing Roth constituency under the umbrella of the Free Democratic Party. No sooner had she assumed office that she was delegated with the responsibility to deputizing the head of the Consumer Protection and Home Affairs’ Committee. She made a clear stand with United Nations policies that promotes the supply of humanitarian aids to some crises-infested states in Africa, including Somalia and Dafur in 2007 and 2008, and Sudan in 2009.

Without any hassle, she secured a return to the house in the 2009 elections, and served in different positions in the same year. She was the spokeswoman for the Committee on Human Right and Humanitarian Aids, as well as the German delegate to the Council of Europe’s Parliamentary Assembly, and as member of Committee on Foreign Relations as a member. As human rights advocate, she co-initiated an open letter to the authoritarian regime of Dmitry Medvedev to forestall his abuses of human rights in Russia, criticized illegitimate arrest of political oppositions in Europe, represented the Council of Europe to observe the 2011 Tunisian elections; and raised awareness in Africa on human’s inalienable rights. She also served as General Rapporteur on the abolition of death penalty, and was a vibrant campaigner for United Nations supports for peace-keeping mission in South Sudan in 2012, and Mali in 2013.

Schuster has a Master’s degree in Business Administration from the University of Regensburg. She belongs to the Justice for Sergei Magnitsky Interparliamentary Group, an international network of politicians committed to the promotion of human rights. She is well known for her contributions to the promotion of human rights, international conflict resolutions, and peace and security in Africa. Marina Schuster is our woman of the week.

Sources

1. Marina Schuster. Wayback Machine Council of Europe.
2. Aid, political and economic ties focus of German minister’s Africa visit. Ethiopian Review.
3. Text of letter to President Medveved. Financial Times
4. Abgeordnete 16. Wahlperiode: Schuster Marin. Deutscher Bundestag.

Lilian made formal her interest in a cooking career when she moved to the United Kingdom in 1978 to burnish her culinary skills through self-training. By the sheer force of passion, she was able to arrange her insightful thoughts on recipes, and communicate how culture and geography could combine to influence food habits. After years of a successful career in London, she went on to establish the Asian Women of Achievements Awards in 1999 to celebrate the Asian females who have blazed the trails in their respective careers. Subsequently she founded Spice Magic Limited in London to provide quality services in cookery and catering, taking the name from her first published cookbook in 2001, ‘Spice Magic: An Indian Culinary Adventure’.

In 2006, she initiated another award, ‘Women of the Future Awards’ to encourage young women in business in the UK and build a formidable mentorship platform that would transform the food industry. The following year, she established the ‘Women of the Future Network’ to bring together women, both experienced and inexperienced, for business connections. ‘The Future Awards’ in South East Asia after a decade. Lilani has, through her several award presentations, stimulated UK and international business ecosystem for women’s participation, and assisted restaurants to improve profitability.

She is an alumnus of Calcutta University where she received her Bachelor’s degree in Education and English in 1974 and holds a Graduate Diploma in Social Communication Media and Management Studies from the University of Bombay, India, and the Council of National Academic Awards, UK.

Lilani stands out from the crowd due to her strong advocacy in women empowerment, mentorship to young females, and her business advice that have transformed growth in the food industry. Pinky Lilani is our woman of the week.

Sources

Spice Magic, Discovery through Food. www.spicemagic.com

Woman’s Hour. Pinky Lilani. https://www.bbc.co.uk/programmes/profiles/g1f5Hn25f6wrdRQyLNR4tP/pinky-lilani-obe/

Pinky Lilany CBE DL. https://www.sbs.ox.ac.uk/about-us/people/pinky-lilani-cbe-dl/

The Edge. Pinky Lilali. https://www.theedge-uk.com/view/pinky-lilani/

Womanthology. Pinky Lilani. http://www.womanthology.co.uk/celebrating-15th-asian-women-achievement-awards-nominations-awards-co-founder-pinky-lilani-obe/

Frazer’s foray into politics began in 2001, when she was appointed by the George Bush Administration to serve as the Special Assistant to the President and Senior Director for African Affairs at the National Security Council. This was after her six years as a  lecturer and Assistant Professor at the Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, U.S. As Special Assistant, Frazer played critical roles in providing solutions to the diverse problems in Southern Africa. She developed strategies that guided U.S in combating poverty and hunger in Zimbabwe, managing conflicts in the war-torn Liberia, and fighting the increasing trend of HIV/AIDs in the region for 3 years.

These contributions earned her a spot in 2004 as Ambassador of U.S to South Africa, where she scaled the country’s operations in South Africa. She only served a year in this office, but her achievements were remarkable. Frazer struck a bilateral agreement with the government of South African for the African Contingency Operations Training Assistant program (ACOTA), an initiative that facilitated peace in the region. Her ability to steer Bush’s leadership positively, culminated in her selection as the United States Assistant Secretary of State for African Affairs in 2005. Passionately, Frazer delivered on the job, designing the roadmap to boost Africa’s security architecture. Her policies helped to manage the then existing crises in Liberia, Sierra Leone, and Congo DR. Through her conflict-mediation skills, she was instrumental to resolving the post-electoral violence that engulfed Kenya in 2007.

A Distinguished Public Service Professor at Carnegie Mellon University’s Heinz College and Department of Social and Decision Sciences, whose leadership in African peace and security, and renowned policies have fostered friendly relations among states, Jendayi Frazer is our woman of the week.

Sources

BlackPast. Jendayi E. Frazer. https://www.blackpast.org/african-american-history/jendayi-e-frazer-1961/

Berggruen Institute. Jendayi Frazer, Biography. https://www.berggruen.org/people/jendayi-frazer/

The White House. President George W. Bush: Ask the White House. http://georgewbush-whitehouse.archives.gov/government/frazer-bio.html/

All GOV: Everything Our Government Really Does. http://www.allgov.com/officials/frazer-jendayi?officialid=28461

Samoura’s diplomatic acumen was first brought to fore in 1995 when she joined the United Nations World Food Programme (WFP) as the Country Director in Djibouti and Cameroon, and later transferred to the organization’s headquarters in Rome, Italy. In this role, she had stellar achievements, developing formidable mechanisms in the management of emergencies in crises infested areas such as Sierra-Leone, Liberia, Kosovo, Nicaragua and East Timor.

The remarkable impacts she made won her recognition from the former UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-Moon, who based on the recommendation of John Holmes, the Under-Secretary-General for Humanitarian Affairs, appointed her as the Deputy Humanitarian Coordinator for Eastern Chad in 2007. Based in Abéché, a Chadian town that borders the conflict-ridden Darfur, Samoura was proactive in her job providing guidance to about seven United Nations agencies and 40 non-governmental organizations (NGOs) with an international outlook. Through her coordination, some of the 180,000 displaced Chadians were sheltered and had their hopes restored for new lives. This was the last position she served before her recent appointment to the management of FIFA.

In 2018, she was listed by BBC as one of the ‘100 most influential and inspirational women in the 21^st Century.  For her elegant contributions towards humanitarian assistance in Africa and the international level and her leadership attributes in the world of men, Fatma Samoura is our woman of the week.

Sources:

BBC (2018). BBC 100 Women 2018: Who is on the list? https://www.bbc.com/news/world-46225037/. Accessed on 9 September 2019.

Forbes (2018). https://www.forbes.com/pictures/5aabea644bbe6f0fa82880d6/no-1-fatma-samba-diouf-sa/#4d533d9d3c26 Accessed on 9 September 2019.

AIPS. Testing times ahead at FIFA as Samoura makes an official start. African Internationale de la Presse Sportive. http://www.aipsmedia.com/index.html?page=artdetail&oldart=18972 Accessed on 9 September 2019.

The foundation focuses on using technology to prevent and eradicate disease, improve learning experiences for children, and reform the criminal justice system. It also aims to build a more inclusive, just, and healthy future for everyone. She is a graduate of Biology with Spanish Citation (BA) from Harvard University, and she earned her medical degree at the University of California, San Francisco. As a paediatrician and former teacher, Chan’s work with patients and students informed her love for personalised learning, finding new paths in managing and curing disease, as well as expanding opportunities for more people. She founded The Primary School which focuses on integrating education, healthcare, and family support services to improve outcomes for underserved children. In 2015, Chan and her husband donated $75 million to the San Francisco General Hospital’s Foundation and in November 2018, the Chan Zuckerberg Initiative donated $214 million worth of Facebook stock to the Silicon Valley Community Foundation.

A woman creating amazing opportunities for people and the 53rd world’s most powerful woman in 2018, according to Forbes, Priscilla Chan is our Woman of the Week.

Sources:

“About Us.” The Primary School, Thur. 11 July 2019, https://www.theprimaryschool.org/about-us/#about-us-banner

“GHC 18 Featured Speaker: Priscilla Chan.” Grace Hopper Celebration, Thur. 11 July 2019, https://ghc.anitab.org/news/commentary-perspectives/ghc-18-featured-speaker-priscilla-chan/

“Our Approach.”Chan Zuckerberg Initiative, Thur. 11 July 2019, https://chanzuckerberg.com/about/our-approach/

“Priscilla Chan.” Forbes, Thur. 11 July 2019, https://www.forbes.com/profile/priscilla-chan/#721cd6c4fd2a

“Priscilla Chan.”SXSW, Thur. 11 July 2019, https://schedule.sxsw.com/2019/speakers/2008197

“Priscilla Chan.” The Primary School, Thur. 11 July 2019, https://www.theprimaryschool.org/team-hq/priscilla-chan

Oprah Winfrey is an American media mogul, TV host, actress, and philanthropist.

Despite having a difficult childhood of poverty and sexual abuse, Winfrey rose to become one of the most visible, successful, and admired women of her time. She became a talk show expert, even going on to establish her own show, The Oprah Winfrey Show.  She won several Emmy awards and was recognised as the best talk show host. In 1986, she established Harpo, Inc., her production company and in 2011, Harpo, Inc., in partnership with Discovery Communications launched the Oprah Winfrey Network (OWN), a television channel. Though the majority of ownership lies with Discovery Communications, Winfrey is the CEO of Oprah Winfrey Network.

Apart from her success in the media, Winfrey is also a philanthropist who has donated money to charities for varied causes like financing education in countries in Africa and providing financial assistance to the victims of natural disasters, Hurricane Katrina, for instance, among others.

As of 14 June 2019, Winfrey was estimated by Forbes to be worth $2.6 billion.  She is 10th on the list of Forbes’ America’s Self-Made Women 2019, 916th on Forbes’ 2019 Billionaires list, and the world’s 20th most powerful woman for 2018 according to the same authoritative American magazine, Forbes. It must not be forgotten that this woman of multiple talents is also an accomplished actress. Her stirring role as Sofia in Steven Spielberg’s The Color Purple remains memorable.

Oprah Winfrey is our Woman of the Week because she represents success in the midst of adversity, a beacon of hope for the girl child and the generality of the poor in the world. She is also an epitome of hard work, determination, and dedication.

Sources:

Astrum People. Oprah Winfrey Biography: Success Story of American Media Mogul, Fri. 14 June 2019,https://astrumpeople.com/oprah-winfrey-biography/

Academy of Achievement. Oprah Winfrey, Fri. 14 June 2019, https://www.achievement.org/achiever/oprah-winfrey/

CNBC. Discovery takes majority stake in Oprah Winfrey’s network, Fri. 14 June 2019, https://www.cnbc.com/2017/12/04/discovery-communications-takes-majority-stake-in-own-cable-network-it-co-owns-with-oprah-winfrey-report.html

Encyclopaedia Britannica. Oprah Winfrey, Fri. 14 June 2019, https://www.britannica.com/biography/Oprah-Winfrey

Encyclopedia of World Biography. Oprah Winfrey Biography, Fri. 14 June 2019, https://www.notablebiographies.com/We-Z/Winfrey-Oprah.html

Forbes. Oprah Winfrey, Fri. 14 June 2019,https://www.forbes.com/profile/oprah-winfrey/#633b1dc55745

Wikipedia. Oprah Winfrey, Fri. 14 June 2019, https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oprah_Winfrey_Network

It addresses global problems in five different divisions: Global Health Division, Global Development Division, Global Growth & Opportunity Division, United States Division, and Global Policy & Advocacy Division. Melinda Gates is the 6th most powerful woman in the world, according to the 2018 Forbes World’s 100 Most Powerful Women. Gates is also the most powerful woman in philanthropy. A large part of her work has been focused on the rights of women and girls. Melinda Gates is our Woman of the Week because she represents leadership, commitment to development, and the rights of women and girls.

Sources:

Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation. What We Do, Mon 18 Feb. 2019,
https://www.gatesfoundation.org/What-We-Do
Forbes. Power Women 2018, Mon 18 Feb. 2019, https://www.forbes.com/profile/melinda-gates/#3adcd9387c2b