VENTURE AFRICA – Last week, Paris-based international think tank operation, the Choiseul Institute for International Politics and geo-economics identified 100 young African leaders under the age of 40, who are reshaping the continent’s economic scene with overbearing business ventures.

These young leaders were selected across 54 countries of the continent based on their image and reputation; course and skills; power and function; influence, networks and leadership potential.

According to Choiseul Institute, these individual “embody the vigor and renewal of an entire continent and carry the hopes of an entire generation.”

In this report, Ventures Africa takes a look at the top five young female African leaders recognised by the institute.

Isabel Dos Santos
Country: Angola
Age: 40

Apart from being the eldest daughter of the longest serving African president, Isabel is the youngest female billionaire in Africa. A mother of three, Isabel has substantial investments in Angola and Portugal. She recently increased her stakes in Banco BIC to 42.5 percent, a move that made her one of the biggest stakeholder in Angola and Portugal financial sector.

She also own major shares in Unitel, Zon Optimus – the media arm of Portugal telecom and Portuguese oil and gas firm, Gulp Energia. While some reports have criticised that her source of wealth as a momentum from her father’s position as the President of Angola; Isabel has portrayed herself as an independent business woman.

She once told Financial Times in an interview: “I think there are a lot of people with family connection but who are actually nowhere. If you are hardworking and determined, you will make it and that is the bottom line.”

Nomkhita Nqweni
Country: South Africa
Age: 39

A graduate of Rhodes University, Nomkhita joined Absa in 2010 as a Managing Executive for its Wealth and investment arm. Before that, a better part of her career was spent at Alexander Forbes Financial Service Holdings Limited which she joined in 1997. Nomkhita held several positions at Alexander Forbes and left after she served as the firm’s Managing Director.

Apart from this, she also served on the board of South Africa’s financial service regulation, including South Africa Mints and South Africa Notes companies.

Rosario Mbasogo Nguidang Kung
Country: Equatorial Guinea
Age: 35

Rosario Mbasogo Kung Nguidang is the Vice-President of the Central African Economic and Monetary Community (CEMEAC), a commission established to promote co-operation and exchange among its members (Central African economies).

Prior to that, Rosario served as the chief of staff to two ministers and the Director General of Regional Integration in Equatorial Guinea.
She was also a member of the Community Unit Program CEMAC institutional reform for four years before she became the Vice-president of the community.

Janine Diagou Wodié
Country: Cote d’Ivoire
Age: 39

Jean Kacou Diagou is one of the few female executives in her home country, Cote d’Ivoire where she heads the banking division of Nouvelle Societe Interafricaine d’Assurance (NSIA) – an insurance group founded by her father, Jean Kacou Diagou in 1995.

Since she assumed her position, Janine has been able to drive NSI’s growth farther as a leading banking group in Cote d’Ivoire as well as in other countries where the company has branches in West and Central Africa.

Marieme Jamme
Country: Senegal
Age: 39

Marieme is one of the respected female voices in the African tech scene. She is an activist, a technologist and a social entrepreneur who has established a number of organisations including SpotOne and iConscience.co.uk, an organization that enables business experts and like-minded individuals to share their expertise and experience in the name of sustainability, development, ethics and morals.

Her organisation, Africa gathering also brings the best entrepreneur minds in Africa to interact and pave way for the continent’s development.