Page 36 - Forbes - Africa (March 2020)

FORBES AFRICA
COVER STORY • POWER WOMEN
ers glued to the big screen consistently
delivering remarkable performances;
off-screen, Theron has been just as in-
vested in sub-Saharan African youth.
According to a UNAIDS 2019 report,
South Africa has 7.7 million people liv-
ing with HIV, the largest in the world.
This prompted the star to establish the
Charlize Theron Africa Outreach Proj-
ect (CTAOP) in 2007, an organization
that strives to educate, empower and
invest in young people's ability to be
productive and HIV-free.
CHARLIZE THERON, CTAOP has raised more than $6.3 mil-
SOUTH AFRICA lion and today has programs that have
supported and engaged more than
300,000 youth, including the creation
HOLLYWOOD ACTOR of safe hubs for 12,000 at-risk girls as AUTHOR, PUBLIC SPEAKER
South African-born Hollywood star Charl- a result of gender inequality and self-
ize Theron continues to fly the African flag efficacy. "Young girls are eight times lectual of international stature whose influence transcends
high. The Academy Award-winning actor more likely to become HIV positive,"
has had yet another incredible year. Her said Theron, during an interview with
rendition of Megyn Kelly's sexual harass- Forbes. "Because of cultural issues and
ment protest in the 2019 film, Bombshell, old traditions, it's really much hard-
gained Theron her third Oscar nomination. er to reach young girls than it is young
While the A-list actress has kept movie-lov- men."
and controls majority stakes in multi-
national companies including Multi-
Choice, Media24 and OLX and a mi-
nority stake in Chinese behemoth,
Tencent.
Personally, Mahanyele-Dabengwa
has privately funded the education of
underprivileged children in prima-
ry school, high school and university.
Over the last decade, she has admin-
istered funding for young school chil-
dren from underprivileged families to
join their colleagues on various educa-
tional trips abroad.
Through Naspers, Mahanyele-Daben-
gwa spearheads Naspers Labs, a pro-
PHUTI MAHANYELE- gram that blends technology and in-
DABENGWA, person coaching to prepare youth
from low-income households in South
SOUTH AFRICA Africa for jobs. One thousand and six
hundred youth have been positively
CEO, NASPERS SOUTH AFRICA impacted, of which 780 have graduat-
DAILY MANTRA: “We are each a miracle ed, with 70% of them managing to se-
in motion. The great opportunity we cure permanent employment.
have is to live out that unique purpose.” “My current role is very fulfilling and
exciting. It allows me the opportunity
huti Mahanyele-Dabengwa is cur- to change the lives of the young people
rently one of only two black female who have joined our labs. And through
PCEOs in the Top 40 Johannesburg Foundry, our early-stage business
Stock Exchange (JSE) listed companies. funding initiative, I have the opportu-
Mahanyele-Dabengwa was appointed in nity to back the leading businesses of
July last year to lead the South African op- tomorrow, by providing scarce capital
erations of media and technology conglom- to internet-based businesses in South
erate, Naspers, which has a current market Africa that use technology to improve
capitalization of R1.1 trillion ($73.3 billion) people’s lives,” she says.
32 | FORBES AFRICA MARCH 2020
CHIMAMANDA NGOZI
ADICHIE, NIGERIA
In modern times, there isn't a celebrated black-female intel-
written words as Chimamanda Ngozi Adichie. Adichie is a
woman who has been able to dissect, shape and create so-
cial dialogues across the globe. Born in Nigeria, Adichie has
drawn from her feminist values and experiences of her child-
hood into early adulthood as a canvas to ignite the minds of
a diverse global audience. Her work has been translated into
over 30 languages.
Her many awards include a Commonwealth Writers' Prize
for her first novel, Purple Hibiscus. Her second, Half of a Yel-
low Sun, gained her a United States (US) National Book Crit-
ics Circle Award and her book Americanah has sold over a
million copies in the US.
"[Adichie's writing] shows that African stories are best told
through African lenses," says Yasmin Furmie, a social work-
er-turned-fashion designer in South Africa.
As a MacArthur Foundation Fellow, Adichie divides her
time between the US and Nigeria. Within both countries,
Adichie is playing an active role to cultivate and pave the
way for emerging talented African writers. In her home
country, she hosts an annual creative writing workshop for
aspiring writers, for which applications pour in from across
the world. Moreover, she has given every girl and boy a de-
construction of feminism made famous by Beyoncé in her
2014 hit song, Flawless: "We teach girls to aspire to mar-
riage, and we don't teach boys the same. We raise girls to
see each other as competitors, not for jobs or for accom-
plishments... but for the attention of men. We teach girls
that they cannot be sexual beings in the way boys are. Femi-
nist: the person who believes in the social, political, and eco-
nomic equality of the sexes," says Adichie. These painstak-
ingly compelling words left an indelible mark in society.
In 2016, along with her publishers, Adichie collaborated
with the Swedish government to distribute copies of her lat-
est essay, ‘We Should All Be Feminists’, to every 16-year-old
student in the country. It also inspired Christian Dior to put
feminism over femininity, when the luxe brand collaborat-
ed with Adichie on a limited-edition T-shirt with the inspired
words in 2017. These were worn by numerous public figures
to demonstrate their support including pop sensation, Rihan-
na, and Oscar-winning actress Jennifer Lawrence.
Proving that African women have a place in litera-
ture and the imaginations of people's minds, Adichie was
awarded the PEN Pinter Prize in October 2018 and 14 hon-
orary doctorate degrees.
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