African women are playing an increasingly prominent role in the public life of the continent by regaining power and political influence, a leading researcher at the Institute of Asian and African Studies (IAAS) in Lomonosov Moscow State University, Nikolay Shcherbakov, told Sputnik.
"The role of women in African countries is traditionally high. In the pre-colonial period, many peoples had women as leaders. Colonialism has undermined the strength of these traditions. But recently, African women have been regaining power and political influence," he said.
To support his words, the expert named several prominent politicians.
"It is enough to recall such politicians as Ellen Johnson Sirleaf, president of Liberia from 2006 to 2018, Samia Suluhu Hassan, president of Tanzania from 2021, Sylvie Kinigi, who combined the posts of prime minister and president of Burundi in 1993-1994, Agathe Uwilingiyimana, prime minister of Rwanda in 1993-1994, and Saara Kuugongelva, prime minister of Namibia since 2015," Shcherbakov stressed.
He likewise noted a Ghanaian saying, which says that "A woman is a flower in a garden, a man is a fence around it."
"An African woman knows her own worth. If you offer help to a woman carrying a heavy load on her head, she will consider herself insulted," the expert concluded.