Are women finally gaining political power across Africa?

DW (English)

From Ghana to Namibia, women in politics are breaking barriers in male-dominated fields, marking a significant shift. But are African nations now leading in boosting female political representation?

Transcript

00:00Last year, Namibia elected Netumbo Nandin Ndaitwa as its first female president,

00:06and many believe that Tanzanian leader Samia Sulu Hassan will retain the presidency when Tanzania goes to the polls.

00:14Currently, there are also five female prime ministers across Africa.

00:19Namibia stands out as it has both a female president and a female prime minister,

00:24holding the two most significant positions in the country.

00:28But does this indicate that African nations are taking the lead in enhancing female political representation?

00:35Not so fast.

00:36Welcome to the flip side.

00:38President Samia Sulu Hassan is genuinely popular in Tanzania,

00:43and she will face off against Dorothy Simu, a woman candidate from the ACT Wazalendo party.

00:50This is the first time that CCM has a woman who is vying for this position.

00:56So it is a milestone, and it is a milestone that we are now going to see two women competing for the same position.

01:04President Hassan has assumed the leadership of the influential CCM party.

01:09This situation is reminiscent of Nandi Ndaitwa in Namibia,

01:13where her party, Swapo, has been in power since the country gained independence.

01:19Despite the similarities, their rise to leadership has been inspiring.

01:23Now, these young children are seeing a role model,

01:26particularly for young children who are seeing a leader who looks like them.

01:31She has a record to show, and she has really shown leadership,

01:36her ability to unite her party, but also the nation.

01:40However, it's one thing for established politicians,

01:43but quite another for women engaging in local politics.

01:47In many countries, women face discrimination, patriarchy and misogyny

01:52From Tanzania

01:54One of the challenges is for people who still have that perspective of no women in higher positions.

02:03To Kenya

02:04For women, it's a lot harder to have that capital to vie for a political seat.

02:09It's also one of the most expensive things to do in this country,

02:13and the harassment they receive, which is just not online, digitally, but also physically.

02:20To Ghana

02:21Where even though the country made headlines

02:23by unveiling a first-ever female vice president in Jane Nana Opuku Agimang,

02:29the country's electoral commission admitted that only one in eight candidates for parliament were women,

02:35despite public sentiment trending the opposite way.

02:39The good thing is that when you look at the Afrobarometer survey,

02:43the general population majority said that women should have the same chance as a man

02:50to be elected into political office.

02:55In 2024, Ghana enacted the Affirmative Action Law,

02:59which aims to increase female political representation to 30% by the year 2030.

03:05If not for anything, it gives a legal backing and enforcement

03:11for women participation in both political space, political life, decision-making and governance.

03:20Rwanda excels in women's representation in parliament,

03:24leading the world with over 60% of its chamber of deputies comprised of women.

03:29Despite the challenges, women like Samia Suluwa-San have succeeded.

03:34She has shown that a woman can also govern the country and a country can be in peace.

03:41But we've shown how we have seen successful ministries,

03:45even Honorable Martha Karua when she was Minister of Justice, for instance.

03:50We've seen them transform, even Wangari Madai winning the Nobel Peace Prize.

03:54And that is the flip side.

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