March 8, is a day set aside to commemorate the social, political and economic achievements of women. It is also a day to reflect and speak about the barriers facing women in the spheres of life.
The New Diplomat has join the rest of the world to celebrate this year’s Women’s International Day by celebrating women both home and abroad who have continued to achieve greater things in spite of all the barriers and challenges in the way.
Below here is the profile of 10 women who have continued to achieve greater heights:
1. Kamala Harris
Born October 20, 1964, Harris is an American politician and attorney. She is currently the vice president of the United States. Harris was inaugurated as the 59th vice president in January 2021 alongside President Joe Biden, having defeated the incumbent president, Donald Trump, and vice president, Mike Pence, in the 2020 election. She made history by becoming the first female vice president and the highest-ranking female official in U.S. She is the first African American and first Asian American vice president.
She is member of the Democratic Party, she had served as the attorney general of California from 2011 to 2017 and as a United States senator representing California from 2017 to 2021.
2 . Angela Merkel
Merkel was born on 17th of July, 1954, in Hamburg, West Germany. She is a German retired politician and scientist who served as the chancellor of Germany from 2005 to 2021. Merkel was the first female chancellor of Germany. During her tenure as Chancellor, Merkel was frequently referred to as the de facto leader of the European Union (EU) and the most powerful woman in the world.
3 Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala
Okonjo-Iweala was born 13 June 1954. She is a Nigerian economist, fair trade leader, environmental sustainability advocate, human welfare champion, sustainable finance maven and global development expert. In March 2021, Okonjo-Iweala made history by becoming not only the first female to serve as a Director-General of the World Trade Organization (WTO), but also the first black female.
She sits on boards of: Danone, Standard Chartered Bank; Twitter; Mandela Institute for Development Studies(MINDS); Carnegie Endowment for International Peace; Georgetown Institute for Women; Peace and Security; One Campaign; Global Alliance for Vaccines and Immunization (GAVI); Rockefeller Foundation, R4D: Results for Development; African Risk Capacity(ARC) and Earthshot Prize, among many others.
4. Christine Amanpour
Born on 12 January 1958, Amanpour is a British-Iranian journalist and television host. Amanpour is the Chief International Anchor for CNN and host of CNN International’s nightly interview program Amanpour. She is also the host of Amanpour & Company on PBS.
5. Ibukun Awosika
Born on December 24, 1962, Awosika is a Nigerian business woman, motivational speaker, and an author. She was a former Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria.
On September 7, 2015, Ibukun became the first woman to be appointed Chairman of First Bank of Nigeria following the resignation of Prince Ajibola Afonja.
Ibukun Awosika is member of IESE’s International Advisory Board (IAB). She also sits on the board of Digital Jewel Limited and Cadbury Nig Plc.
6 Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe
Nneka Onyeali-Ikpe is the Chief Executive Officer (CEO), Fidelity Bank. She assumed office in January, 2021, becoming the 4th Chief Executive and first female to occupy the position since the inception of the bank in 1988.
She holds Bachelor of Laws (LLB) degree from the University of Nigeria, Nsukka; a Master of Laws (LLM) degree from Kings College, London; and has attended executive training programmes at notable global institutions including Harvard Business School; The Wharton School University of Pennsylvania; INSEAD School of Business; Chicago Booth School of Business; London Business School and IMD.
7 . Miriam Olusanya
Miriam Olusanya is the Managing Director of Guaranty Trust Bank, the first woman to ever hold the position. She assumed this position in July 2021. She is a graduate of Pharmacy from the University of Ibadan and a Master of Business Administration from the University of Liverpool.
Olusanya, who until her appointment was an executive director at the bank, became the bank’s first female MD since it was established in 1990.
She has over 23 years of banking experience across various units, including transaction services, asset and liability management, financial markets, corporate finance and investor relations.
8. Amina Jane Mohammed
Born on 27 June 1961, Mohammed is a British-Nigerian diplomat and politician who is serving as the fifth Deputy Secretary-General of the United Nations. She was Nigerian Minister of Environment from 2015 to 2016. and was a key player in the Post-2015 Development Agenda process.
9 Ijeoma Nwaogwugu
Ijeoma Nwaogwugwu is a Nigerian journalist. She is the pioneer managing director of Arise TV, a Nigerian news outlet. She was one of the directors of Thisday Newspaper. She is also an editor at THISDAY newspaper. She is the second woman in Nigerian journalism’s history to be appointed editor of a national newspaper, the first being Doyin Abiola.
10 Ibim Seminitari
Mrs Semenitari is an award winning investigative journalist, editor and publisher who has worked for over 20 years with some of Nigeria and America’s leading titles.
She has also worked as Journalism Trainer/Editor with the BBC World Service Trust. She has also served as a former Director-General of the Niger Delta Development Commission (NDDC).
She was the first Nigerian female journalist to win the CNN African Journalist of the Year Awards and for her reports in the Nigerian print media, she came second in print journalism in the CNN African Journalist Award in 1997.
The vastly-experienced journalist is a two-time winner of the Nigerian Media Merit Award and a three-time winner of the Diamond Award for Media Excellence amongst several others.
