Harnessing women’s power in Africa

Africa Director Akinyi Walender will be calling for leaders to ensure women play an essential role in decision making when she speaks at a conference today.  

Akinyi will join with creative, tech, and women leaders at the Africa Soft Power Summit in Kigali, Rwanda. She will highlight real-life examples of gender transformative work developed by communities and call on African leaders to scale it up.  

The Summit is designed to bring together private and public sector leaders to address the trends shaping the continent’s landscape. 

This year’s theme is, ‘Africa Now: Connecting Africa – shaping the global social and economic priorities of our time’. 

The Summit will consist of several events and Akinyi will have a speaking role at the Remarkable African Women’s Leadership Conference. 

On May 29, Akinyi is joining the panel on ‘Advancing Gender Equity in Africa: Leveraging the Private Sector to Navigate Challenges and Drive Meaningful Change.’ 

She said: “For Africa to develop, it is vital that we gather leaders together to discuss crucial issues. Increasing women’s economic empowerment throughout the continent is absolutely vital to its success.  

“We already know that if women have financial independence, they make good decisions regarding how their money is spent; making choices that benefit themselves, their children and their wider circle of influence. 

“But in order to gain economic empowerment, women and girls must be part of decision-making processes at all levels. Time and again, we see that if women are able to make choices, it enhances the well-being of the many, not the few. 

“I will be showcasing examples of where Practical Action, the Global Distributors Collective and the communities we work with have joined together to create a gender-positive environment that represent women and include them at all levels. I call upon leaders to use their power to make sure these examples are taken to scale.” 

The summit will not be live streamed. However, the sessions will be recorded and made available on the Soft Power Youtube channel after the summit. They will also be sharing key takeaways and highlights on their social media platforms throughout the entire event. 

• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/africasoftpower 
• Twitter: https://twitter.com/africasoftpower 
• LinkedIn: https://www.linkedin.com/company/africasoftpower 
• Facebook: facebook.com/@africasoftpower 

Notes to editors 

To arrange an interview with Akinyi, please contact our Media and Stories Manager: [email protected]