Namibian Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila will lead off the first pan-African virtual training program for women early in their government careers on Thursday, April 28th. The training session is free to any woman in the first five years of her government career in any of the fifty-four countries in Africa, and is convened by Africa.com and Coca-Cola Africa as part of their Women Heads of State Initiative.
The Prime Minister’s remarks, Three Pieces of Advice for Women Early in their Government Careers, will be targeted towards civil servants, and will precede remarks by Patricia Obozuwa on How to Kick Start Your Career in Public Service. Next up will be a panel moderated by Oxford Professor Christopher Stone on Advancing a Culture of Integrity, featuring Ms Tejumola Abisoye, Ms Abena Annobea Asare, Ms Amani Rabei, and Ms Rose Wachuka. The final session will feature Gorick Ng, Career Counselor at Harvard University, who will lead a highly interactive session How to Stand Out as a Public Servant featuring Ms Elizabeth Obeng-Yeboah, Dr Yakama Manty Jones, Ms Nomtandazo Thandi Moyo, Ms Gloria Zayzay Dole, and Ms Christine Tenneh Dono.
Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila said “Training young women in government across Africa is so important because they need to continuously increase their knowledge and skills in order to ensure an effective and more responsive public service”.
According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Report on Public Service in Africa, the average age of a public servant is around 41 years of age, with about 15 years of service in the same agency. The report noted that opportunities for mobility in public service are limited. Coca-Cola Vice President for Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability in Africa, Patricia Obozuwa said, “We are happy to be supporting this training workshop, which is an excellent opportunity for us to advance gender equality and build the capacity of thousands of emerging African leaders in the civil service. Women empowerment is one of the focus areas under our sustainability platform, JAMII where we commit to unlock economic opportunities for women across the continent.”
Africa.com CEO Teresa Clarke said, “Africa.com is motivated to use the media platform we have built over the last twelve years as a force for good. The last two years have taught us all about the power of distance learning, and we are excited to be partnered with Coca-Cola Africa to bring free, world class professional development to every African woman early in her public service career.”
Free for any woman in Africa, working in public service, in the first five years of her career.
