Women’s leadership in Africa is still becoming challenging, with few female leaders being entrusted with top leadership positions. Africa and the world still have a long journey to achieve gender equity in leadership. In one of my previous articles, I shared that only 17 out of 54 African Countries have ever had female vice presidents, let alone presidents where the star is even worse. At the moment, only 2 African Countries have female heads of state, this follows Namibia’s recent election of Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah and the subsequent replacement of her Ethiopia counterpart Sahle-Work Zewde in October 2024, Sahle is reported to have fallen out with the Prime Minister (BBC News) leading to her replacement after just one 6-year term.
These are the only two active female presidents in Africa at the moment:
- Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah- Namibia
Netumbo rose to the rank of Namibia’s head of state following the country’s most recent election. She was declared the winner of the Namibian presidential race with 54% of total legitimate votes followed at a distance by Panduleni Itula who only managed 27% of legitimate votes. Netumbo Nadi-Ndaitwah is the first female president of Namibia, showcasing the country’s democratic maturity and willingness to foster gender equity in top leadership.
2.Samia Suluhu Hassan- Tanzania
Samia Suluhu was sworn in as the President of Tanzania in March 2021 after the sudden and unfortunate demise of President John Pombe Magufuli the previous month. Samia overcame opposition to rise through the ranks of becoming the first female president of Tanzania, and the second female head of state in Africa together with Etheopia’s Sahle-Work.
With the election of Namibia’s Netumbo Nadi-Ndaitwah, only eleven African countries have now had female heads of state (Presidents) with four having worked in acting capacities. Here is the list with the years and countries they served.
By Newsmedia