The annual Forbes list of the The 20 Young Power
Women In Africa 2014 has been released and it
features Nigerian amazons like Ada Osakwe and
Toyosi Akerele among others.
Written by Mfonobong Nsehe for Forbes
Every year since 2011 have enlisted
readers’ help to identify 20 young,
extraordinary and inspiring African women,
aged 45 and under, who are making the
most dramatic impact in individual African
countries in the world of politics, business,
technology, policy, diplomacy and media for
the annual tally of the 20 Youngest Power
Women In Africa. Now in its 4th year, the
list celebrates 20 influential female leaders,
ground breakers & ceiling crashers who are
transforming the continent from their
communities.
Read about the Nigerians on the list after the
cut...
Ada Osakwe (pictured right), Nigerian , Advisor to
the Honorable Minister Federal Ministry of
Agriculture and Rural Development, Nigeria
Nigeria’s agricultural sector has attracted more
than $4 billion in private sector investment
commitments over the last year, and Ada Osakwe
is an integral reason why. Osakwe, 34, currently
serves as the Senior Investment Adviser to
Nigerian Minister of Agriculture Akinwunmi
Adesina – arguably the best-performing member
of President Goodluck Jonathan’s kitchen cabinet.
She works directly with the minister, advising him
on his policies regarding private sector
investments into the food and agriculture sector.
Osakwe also interacts with current and prospective
agribusiness investors and champions innovative
approaches to channel sustainable private sector
engagements in the sector. Previously, she served
as Vice President of Kuramo Capital, a New York-
based investment management firm. She also
worked in various capacities at the African
Development Bank.
Amy Jadesimi, Nigerian, Managing Director,
LADOL
The 39-year-old Nigerian businesswoman is the
Managing Director of the Lagos Deep Offshore
Logistics Base (LADOL), Nigeria’s only indigenous-
owned deep offshore logistics base. Jadesimi
earned a BA in physiological sciences at Oxford
University, and then went on to work for the
investment banking division of Goldman Sachs in
London. She subsequently attended Stanford
Business School, where she earned her MBA, and
returned to Nigeria to set up a financial
consultancy outfit before joining LADOL (a
company founded by her father) as Managing
Director. Since it was founded in 2001, LADOL has
turned a former industrial wasteland into a $500
million industrial village and specialized port
facility, providing an environment in which high
value operations, such as oil and gas drilling and
production support, ship building and repairs,
specialized manufacturing and engineering can
take place 24/7 in a secure Free Zone. The second
phase of the LADOL development is currently
ongoing and it includes Nigeria’s single largest
local content development – a $300 million
investment in West Africa’s largest vessel
fabrication and integration yards. LADOL Free
Zone was created to make Nigeria the hub for
West African maritime and oil and gas activities
through long-term investment in world class
facilities and services. Jadesimi is spearheading
this vision.
Rimini Makama , Nigeria, Director, Africa Practice
Rimini Makama, 34, is the Communications
Director at Africa Practice, Africa’s foremost
strategy and communications consultancy. Over
the last half a decade, Makama has successfully
introduced some of the largest international
institutions on the continent and beyond into the
Nigerian market, simultaneously helping to
strategically positioning them as key players in
their industry and encouraging foreign investment
in the country. Some of her clients include
BlackBerry, Union Bank, Renaissance Capital,
Bloomberg, Western Union, World Economic Forum
Africa, The Africa Union and Paypal. Rimini has a
background in law and after obtaining a BL from
the Nigerian Law School and an LLM in
International Law and World Order. Prior to a
career in communications, she joined the Office of
Legal Affairs at the International Criminal Police
Organization (INTERPOL) in Lyon, France where
she worked as a lawyer primarily reviewing notices
and individual requests safeguarding international
security and safety across borders. She also
drafted cooperation agreements between the 190
member countries.
Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, Nigerian, Social
entrepreneur
Ogunsiji, 31, is the Founder of RISE NETWORKS, a
Nigeria-based private and public sector funded
Youth Interest social enterprise with a primary
focus on wholesome youth and education
development. The organization focuses on
creating intellectual development and capacity
building programs for young Nigerians between 16
and 30 and receives generous support from
several state governments and blue-chip
companies. Ogunsiji is an alumnus of the United
States Government’s International Visitor
Leadership Program.
Adiat Disu, Nigerian, Founder, African Fashion
Week
Adiat Disu, 27, is an international publicist and
founder of Adirée, a New York-based
communications and brand strategy company. In
2009, Adirée launched the annual Africa Fashion
Week in New York, one of the most popular
international African-focused fashion events, in
an effort to place structure around Africa’s
fashion industry and promote international
economic partnerships while promoting brands
from Africa on a global scale. It has been a
resounding success. Disu and Adirée are also
working on hosting other international African
Fashion Weeks in other fashion capitals of the
world including Paris, Milan, London and Tokyo.
Source: Forbes.com
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