Kenya’s Lupita, Dr Riria among Africa’s most powerful women according to Forbes

Two Kenyan women are among Africa’s 50 Most Powerful Women as listed by Forbes.

Kenya Women Finance Trust (KWFT) founder Dr Jennifer Riria and award-winning Kenyan actress Lupita Nyong’o are featured on the list of the continent’s leading women in 2020, the first of its kind by Forbes Africa.  

When announcing the unranked compilation during its 2020 Forbes Woman Africa Leading Women Summit in Durban, South Africa, Forbes stated that the list is recognizing African women who are “challenging the status quo and creating a trail on terrain where there was none.”

“They are reshaping history, closing inequalities and pioneering new avenues of wealth creation and in turn, lifting others with them,” an article by Forbes reads.

Lupita is the first Kenyan to win an Academy award for her role in 12 Years a Slave. Apart from acting and her role advocating for women’s rights and against sexual harassment, Lupita has also made a name for herself as an author. She published a New York best-seller children’s book, Sulwe, in 2019.

Dr Riria is the Group Chief Executive Officer of Echo Network Africa; a founding member of KWFT; and the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year- 2013 and 2014. She is also the chair of microfinance network - Women’s World Banking that covers over 50 microfinance institutions across 30 countries.

Here are some of the phenomenal African women who featured in the list alongside Lupita and Dr Riria: