Women Political Leaders in Africa

In Africa, women leaders have a strong legacy. Female pharaohs ruled ancient Egypt, queens and queen mothers have reigned throughout contemporary Africa, and women across the continent have led modern liberation movements.
This book’s wide-ranging examination of African women leaders focuses especially on women in elected or appointed national government positions. The author provides an extensive analysis of the progress made by women leaders in each individual country, as well as an overall analysis of the historical role of women in African governments. In addition, the book offers in-depth profiles of eleven women in high office, including current Liberian president Ellen Johnson-Sirleaf and Mozambique prime minister Luisa Diogo. The appendix shows the current number of women in national parliaments worldwide.

The late Rosemarie Skaine was a sociologist and lived in Cedar Falls, Iowa. Her writing interests included families and women’s issues.

Rosemarie Skaine
Format: softcover (7 x 10)
Pages: 216
Bibliographic Info: 13 photos, tables, appendix, glossary, notes, bibliography, index
Copyright Date: 2008
pISBN: 978-0-7864-3299-8
Imprint: McFarland

Acknowledgments      vii
Preface      1

PART I. WOMEN AND GOVERNANCE IN AFRICA
Chapter 1. African Women Leaders: Historical Roles and Present-Day Status      5
Chapter 2. Women of Africa in New or Changing Roles      13
Chapter 3. Leadership and Globalism      27
Chapter 4. Profiles of African Women Leaders      33

PART II. PROGRESS OF AFRICAN WOMEN BY COUNTRY
Introduction      61

NORTH AFRICA
People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria 65
Arab Republic of Egypt 67
Great Socialist People’s Libyan Arab Jamahiriyah 68
Islamic Republic of Mauritania 69
Kingdom of Morocco 71
Republic of the Sudan 72
Tunisian Republic 73
Western Sahara 75

CENTRAL AFRICA
Republic of Cameroon      77
Central African Republic      78
Republic of Chad      79
Republic of the Congo      80
Equatorial Guinea      82
Gabonese Republic      83
Democratic Republic of São Tomé and Príncipe      84

EAST AFRICA
Republic of Burundi      87
Union of the Comoros      89
Democratic Republic of the Congo      89
Republic of Djibouti      91
State of Eritrea      93
Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia      94
Republic of Kenya      96
Republic of Madagascar      97
Republic of Rwanda      98
Republic of Seychelles      100
Somalia      101
Republic of Somaliland      102
United Republic of Tanzania      105
Republic of Uganda      107

WEST AFRICA
Republic of Benin      109
Burkina Faso      110
Republic of Cape Verde      111
Republic of Côte d’Ivoire      113
Republic of The Gambia      114
Republic of Ghana      116
Republic of Guinea      117
Republic of Guinea-Bissau      119
Republic of Liberia      120
Republic of Mali      122
Republic of Niger      123
Federal Republic of Nigeria      125
Republic of Senegal      127
Republic of Sierra Leone      128
Togolese Republic      129

SOUTHERN AFRICA
Republic of Angola      132
Republic of Botswana      133
Kingdom of Lesotho      135
Republic of Malawi      137
Republic of Mauritius      139
Republic of Mozambique      140
Republic of Namibia      141
Republic of South Africa      143
Kingdom of Swaziland      145
Republic of Zambia      146
Republic of Zimbabwe      148

Conclusion: Leadership, Power and Decision Making      153
Appendix: Women in Parliaments      157
Abbreviations and Glossary      163
Chapter Notes      165
Bibliography      187
Index      201

“thoroughly researched and comprehensive…highly recommend this work”—Feminist Collections.