Binta Touré Ndoye: Making space for women in business

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Examples of female empowerment and leadership abound in Africa. In Rwanda, women constitute 68% of parliament, in Nigeria women have held key positions in government, while in Malawi, Burundi and Ethiopia women have been elected or appointed president.

A report published by McKinsey two years ago found that in the private sector, Africa has more women in executive committee, chief executive and board roles in companies than the average around the world.

However, the day-to-day reality in business is a little different. Take the proportion of female chief executives in Africa for instance – it is only 5%.

“This is an aberration,” says Binta Touré Ndoye, chief executive of Oragroup. Ndoye has been head of Oragroup since 2016, after holding the position of deputy chief executive. Before that, she was managing director in Togo for Ecobank.

“I was incredibly proud and honoured that the Oragroup board of directors made the decision to appoint me as the chief executive,” says Ndoye.