First Forbes Woman Africa Summit A Global Success

Pivoting to adapt to the new socially-distanced environment, the innovative FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit brought a well-co-ordinated digital event to audiences across the globe, while still maintaining the high caliber nature of this impactful summit.

Running from 8 to 9 March 2021, the free-to-attend #LeadingWomanSummit – presented by Mastercard – welcomed the continent’s most dynamic leaders to speak on this year’s theme, Africa Reloaded: The Power of The Collective. 

Building on five successful, in-person events, the 6^th #LeadingWomanSummit garnered an audience of more than 1,936 attendees from 103 countries.   Delegates from across the globe listened to this year’s impactful panel and #IntheSpotlight discussions, led by 53 prominent speakers from across the continent. Among them were Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, newly-elected Director-General of the WTO; Zozibini Tunzi, Miss Universe 2019; Gugu Mbatha-Raw, British actress and UNHCR high-profile supporter; Alek Wek, British-Sudanese supermodel, and designer; Piwo Nyanda, South African rugby player and Mastercard Ambassador; and Ilwad Elman, Somali-Canadian activist, 2021 Nobel Peace Prize nominee and Director of Elman Peace Centre among many others.  

“We consider the FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit to be an editorialized event that gives the audience a chance to engage with the hard-hitting stories and inspirational people that feature throughout Forbes Africa,” explained Renuka Methil, Managing Editor of FORBES Africa & FORBES Woman Africa. “After such a disruptive year and the resultant impact on women worldwide, we felt that this year’s summit was more necessary than ever. And, considering the response to this year’s event, it’s evident that the topics engaged by the high-profile speakers made an impact on the audience, paving the way for a more productive 2021.” 

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The #LWS2021 panel discussions gave audiences insight into several business-driven topics that considered the impact of the global pandemic in future operations. Some of the topics covered include ‘The isolation economy and the double shift for women’, ‘Rise of the low-touch economy: Financial and digital inclusion in a pandemic world’, ‘Warriors in healthcare: What’s life like on the frontline?’, ‘Back to the garage: Working-from-home (WFH) and the remote revolution’ as well as ‘Why the Covid-19 pandemic is also a gender pandemic’. 

“We are proud to present the Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit, an event that has grown to become one of the biggest platforms in Africa to celebrate and enhance the contributions of women, recognizing the many roles they play, and the many passions they tenaciously pursue. The Covid-19 pandemic has had a disproportionate effect on women, and we must collaborate to ensure that we apply our collective capabilities towards consciously including more women in more sectors on more levels. Mastercard remains committed to gender balance as a business strategy, and to use our technology and network to enable all women to realize their potential – bringing us closer to a world where everyone can access the future’s brightest possibilities.” – Ebehijie Momoh, Country Manager & Business Head, West Africa, Mastercard. 

There are many exciting opportunities for involvement in the 2022 FORBES WOMAN AFRICA Leading Women Summit including event sponsorship, exhibiting at the on-site marketplace, or sponsoring a mentee. For more information, see contact details below.