Purple Lipstick

1.  Out of the 200 countries that make up our world only 17 are led by women. Out of those 17 heads of state 3 are African!

Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf has been the president of Liberia since 2006 and was the first ever African, female head of state. Sirleaf was jointly awarded the 2011 Nobel Peace Prize with Leymah Gbowee of Liberia and Tawakkol Karman of Yemen. The women were recognized "for their non-or violent struggle for the safety of women and for women's rights to full participation in peace-building work." Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf is a great example of how African women can not only be placed in positions of leadership but can thrive there!

Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila is the current Prime Minister of Namibia. Kuugongelwa has been in office since March 2015 and had previously served as the countries minister of Finance. For all of you Eco’s buffs the prime minister should give you lots of hope, as she studied Economics as her college major!

Catherine Samba-Panza is the president of the Central African Republic (CAR). Even though her term ended this year, we wanted to keep her on the list because of the amazing work she has done. Following the Central African Republic conflict under the Djotodia administration Panza was elected as the countries interim-president to preserve peace. Her call for talks between both sides to the conflict was welcomed by the parties. She presided over a period that was said to be without law, functioning police or courts. We celebrate her for her stance and commitment to peace!

2   2.   Rwanda: The most elected female politicians in the World!

An incredible 64% of seats in the Rwandan parliament are held by women!!! 64%, that’s more than half and makes Rwanda the world leader in female politicians!!!  Senegal, Seychelles and South Africa have more than 40% each, and Mozambique, Angola, Tanzania and Uganda are not far off, with women occupying over 35% of all parliamentary seats. Considering that women hold only 19% of the seats in the US congress and 20% in the senate, Africa is leading the world in this right and we should definitely be proud of that!

3    3.   Fashion and Business

Folorunsho Alakija is the 3^rd richest woman of African descent in the world, second to Oprah! Alakija is the first female billionare from Nigeria and for all the fashion lovers reading this, fashion is one of her major income generators (that an oil ;)). If you’re a girl and you love fashion we think you should keep at it, you never know where it could get you!