Maiden women in business meeting to take place on 2 and 3 July in Paris

As the maiden edition of Women in Business, it is said to have these attributes, Influence, leadership and international expansion. mark the Women in Business Meeting program

Lucy Quist, Co-Founder, Women Network, (Ghana) is one of board members of event which is

poised to promote and elevate women in Africa.

The first Women in Business Meeting, organized in partnership with ESSEC Business School and the International Organisation of La Francophonie, will take place on 2 and 3 July in Paris.

The program focuses on women’s development as business leaders and women of influence.

A board of influential African women business leaders has been appointed to strategically position and launch the first regional circles of influence.

In Africa today, only 5% of CEOs running large companies are women. Yet, the positive impact of women executives on a company’s financial performance has been proven: African companies with the most women on their executive committees achieve 20% higher profit margins than the average for their sector of activity.

Following on the success of the Africa CEO Forum’s “Women in Business” initiative, the first Women in Business Annual Leadership Meeting, organized in partnership with ESSEC Business School and the International Organisation of La Francophonie, aims to tangibly strengthen African women leadership.

Building and maintaining an influential network, how to manage your image and assert leadership in an era marked by social networks and successfully growing a business internationally as the African Continental Free Trade Area comes into effect are some of the topics that will be covered at the meeting. These are all themes that will be developed during high-level panels, testimonials from inspiring women leaders and interactive workshops run by experts from McKinsey & Company and ESSEC Business School.

The Women in Business Annual Leadership Meeting will close with a session devoted to creating the first circles of influence for African women leaders. Each circle will be headed by a member of the “Women in Business” initiative board, which will also be introduced at the Meeting.

The board is made up of eight African women business leaders, who embody the continent’s success and are keen to play a role in strengthening African female leadership: Snowy Khoza, Executive Chairperson, BIGEN (South Africa), Elisabeth Medou Badang, Senior VP and spokesperson, Orange MEA (Cameroon), Cathia Lawson-Hall, Head of Financial Institutions for Africa, Société Générale (France), Lucy Quist, Co-Founder, Women Network, (Ghana), Toyin Sanni, CEO, United Capital, (Nigeria), Anta Babacar Ngom, Managing Director, SEDIMA, (Senegal), Carole Kariuki, CEO, KEPSA, (Kenya) and Nadia Fettah, Managing Director, Saham Finances, (Morocco).

The board meets physically twice a year, at the Africa CEO Forum and the Women in Business Annual Leadership Meeting. The main role of its members is to use their experience and vision to initiate and guide the actions of the "Women in Business" initiative.