Three Kenyan Chief Executive Officers have emerged as the best female leaders in Africa for steering their companies to top-tier status in the continent.
This is according to a new list released by TheAfrica.com dubbed The 2021 Definitive list of African Women CEOs unveiled during the Definitive List summit held on Wednesday, October 13.
The three include East African Breweries Ltd (EABL) Group Managing Director and CEO Jane Karuku, KenGen CEO Rebecca Miano, and Diamond Trust Bank (DTB) Group CEO Naseem Devji.
During the summit, Karuku affirmed that the list made great strides in driving the female agenda and inspire women across the continent to achieve their dream.
“The women in the Definitive list today indeed shows that Africa has made great progress in gender inclusion in the corporate space and I hope that we get to inspire young women all over the continent to arise, step forward and go for their dreams, whatever they may be," the EABL CEO remarked.
The three Kenyans were part of 50 African women who had qualified from an initial list of 526 females running 365 companies as either CEO of publicly listed African corporations, heads of regional bodies, or African heads of global corporations.
Africa.com undertook a data-driven project, compiling a list of high-profile personalities who run the largest, most complex businesses within the continent.
In addition to providing the names of the top 50 women, various personalities who spoke at the summit gave recommendations that ought to be enforced in order to steer women towards successful careers.
"Part of success is choosing the right employer. Research by Havard Business School shows that the company that a black woman works, plays a very important role in determining the course and the trajectory of her career," Anthony Mayo, a Masters of Business Administration (MBA) professor at Havard Business School shared his insights.
A spot check on Africa.com website revealed that it is a modern digital company that reaches a global audience interested in African content and community. The company is led by women.
Karuku joined EABL in June 2014 as a non-executive director and rose to the position of Managing Director in June 2015. She later became the CEO and group MD in January 2021.
Devji was hired by DTB bank as the regional financial controller before climbing ranks to the position of group managing director five years later. Miano, on the other hand, assumed the KenGen CEO position in August 2017 and has been at the helm for four years to date.
