Photograph — African Media Agency

The first Women in Business Leadership Meeting, organized by Jeune Afrique Media Group, in partnership with the International Organization of La Francophonie ended last week in Paris. The meeting brought together 200 women from more than 30 countries to France for two days to discuss African women leadership in business, and maintaining influence in their industries.

The highlight of the meeting was the launch of the Women in Business Network, the first regional influential network entirely dedicated to promoting meetings and interaction between women managers with business interests in Africa.

The event, which was held on the 2nd and 3rd of July, explored subjects such as how to build and maintain your network of influence to develop your company, how to assert leadership and manage one’s image in the era of social media, and how to have an international outlook to developing your business. These subjects were discussed at great lengths in various masterclasses, collaborative workshops, and given a personal touch with stories from women business leaders around the world.

The Women in Business Network is the first network dedicated to advancing interaction between women managers with business interests in Africa. Its launch also confirms it as the first influential African network of its kind.

While speaking about the network, Deputy Managing Director at Jeune Afrique Media Group Yves Biyah explained that the network will supplement the existing national and regional business networks of women CEOs in Africa.

“The Women In Business Network also brings two new value propositions to the continent: on the one hand, a new, regionally based organisation that allows, for example, a Nigerian manager to be permanently connected to her Ivorian or Senegalese colleagues, in order to be able to carry out joint projects; and, on the other hand, the support of Jeune Afrique Media Group, through its publications and events, that lend power and exposure to the network’s projects and its action in favour of women’s leadership,” he said.

The regional leaders of the Women in Business Network, with 6 regions in total, are: Lamia Merzouki, Deputy Managing Director, Casablanca Finance Authority (Morocco) and Emna Kharouf, Associate Director, Deloitte (Tunisia) for the North Africa region; Caroline Kamaitha, Vice-President, SES Networks (Kenya) for the East Africa region; Françoise Le Guennou-Remarck, Chairman of the Board, Canal + Côte d’Ivoire and Patricia Obozuwa, Director of Communications and Public Affairs, General Electric Africa (Nigeria) for the West Africa region; Lizeka Matshekga, Division Manager, Industrial Development Corporation (South Africa) and Nothando Napata, Managing Director, DBS (Zimbabwe) for the Southern Africa region; Valerie Neim, Managing Director, CCPC Finance (Cameroon) and Nicole Sulu, Managing Director, Sultani Hotel (Democratic Republic of Congo) for the Central Africa region; Alvine Trémoulet, Diversity and Inclusion Manager, Pfizer (France) and Jennifer Mbaluto, Senior Associate, Clifford Chance (United Kingdom) for International.

The mission of each regional cluster will be to promote contact between members of the same region by organizing quarterly events and initiating a flagship action to support women’s leadership.

The Women in Business Leadership Meeting was organized by Jeune Afrique Media Group, which has also hosted Africa CEO Forum for six years.

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