The Sunday Mail
Sunday Mail Correspondent
SOME of the most influential women on the African continent will headline this year’s Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit, which gets underway at the SunBet Arena, Time Square, in Pretoria, South Africa, on International Women’s Day (March 8).
This year’s event is running under the theme “Women 3.0: The Icons and Ideas Shaping Africa”.
The indaba will focus on wealth, mining, fintech, agritech and climate resilience. Among the key speakers are Ms Nolitha Fakude, chairperson of Anglo American’s management board in South Africa; and Dr Nataliey Bitature, chief of staff and board member of Simba Group, an East African group of companies spanning various sectors that include telecommunications, education, energy and real estate.
They will be joined by Dr Funmi Adewara, a British-Nigerian physician and Cambridge-trained bioscientist, who is also a multi-award-winning entrepreneur; as well as Ms Irene Kiwia, co-founder of Adanian Labs, a Pan-African tech venture studio scaling technology businesses.
Ms Patricia Scotland, secretary-general of the Commonwealth, will also join the speakers’ panel.
“The eighth edition of the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit is already on track to become one of our most dynamic events as we welcome an illustrious speaker line-up to the stage,” said the managing editor of “Forbes Africa”, Ms Renuka Methil.
“Considering the socio-economic challenges as a result of the pandemic, there is a lot we are having to navigate.
“This summit is the ideal space to gain inspiration and guidance from those who are not only navigating these challenges, but forging new paths for our future generation of female leaders.”
The event is being held in partnership with distillery company The Macallan, and Coca-Cola.
Ms Patricia Obozuwa, Coca-Cola Africa vice president for public affairs, communications and sustainability, said the company was excited to support the event.
“Empowering women to thrive is a global commitment by The Coca-Cola Company,” she said.
“We believe women are critical to the success of our business; therefore, we aspire to be 50 percent led by women globally by 2030.
“Women are integral to the continued success of the communities we proudly serve.
“Women and youth empowerment is one of the focus areas under Coca-Cola Africa’s sustainability platform, JAMII, where we commit to unlocking economic opportunities for women across the continent.”
Mr Thami Banda, brand ambassador (Africa) at The Macallan, said: “The Macallan is extremely proud to collaborate with Forbes Woman Africa. Both brands respect values that women bring in the business world.
“At The Macallan, we have a long history of inspirational women, from the current lead whisky maker, Kirsteen Campbell, to the exceptional Janet Harbinson, who, against all the odds, steadied The Macallan ship after her husband’s passing.
“Guided by her conviction and strong belief in doing the next right thing for everyone she cared about, she unconsciously made history by overseeing the process that produced the most expensive single malt whisky, The Macallan 1926.
“It is, therefore, only right that we pay tribute to African women who embody such spirit and courage.”
