RAW business: African female leaders rethink leadership frameworks for a changing global economy

Rather than treating women’s leadership as a parallel social issue, RAW situates it within debates on economic design, governance, technology and long-term institutional stability. In an age of AI, decentralised currencies, geopolitical shifts and rapidly evolving industry models, it can sometimes feel as though traditional public and private sector structures are struggling to keep up with the pace of change. Technology may be advancing, but is human innovation and infrastructure advancing fast enough alongside it to build sustainable economic models for all? 

A defining insight from the 2025 RAW Conference was the need for Africa to design its own fit-for-purpose leadership and equity frameworks, rather than continuing to rely on imported models developed for very different institutional and economic contexts. Panellists challenged ideas around performative diversity and checkbox approaches that prioritise optics over outcomes, arguing instead for leadership systems that are grounded in African realities and capable of delivering durable economic and institutional results.

Led by African female leaders, the RAW Conference provides an inclusive, solution-driven forum with a diverse range of speakers and panellists. It brings together policymakers, regulators, senior executives, investors and system designers to interrogate how leadership structures, incentives and decision-making processes shape economic performance and institutional resilience. Central to the discussion is how the continent can design and own leadership and governance frameworks that are fit for purpose, rather than adapting imported Western models that often prioritise compliance metrics over structural change, and which have themselves proven fragile in recent years.

Speaking at the 2025 staging of the event, which was also held in Nairobi, Banke Sotomi, Senior Consultant for Delta Alpha Psi, said: “We get to decide how and where, and the ways in which, we get to do things on the continent that benefit and work for us. I really resonate with us as a continent rising and taking leadership, owning our narratives and creating what’s a fit-for-purpose.”

RAW reframes women’s leadership not as a values-based or reputational exercise, but as institutional infrastructure – integral to economic design, policy effectiveness, capital allocation and long-term stability. Discussions focus on how leadership systems are built, how power and opportunity flow through organisations, and what kinds of incentives produce sustainable growth. 

“The first thing is to frame equity not as a feel-good measure, but as a practical component of how economies and businesses will thrive,” said Wangari Muikia, founder and Managing Director of Expertise Global, also speaking at the 2025 convening. 

It has long been established that underutilising the female 50% of the workforce creates serious productivity issues, and that drawing upon a narrow pool of perspectives can serve to suffocate economic growth. 

In its December 2023 report titled Diversity matters even more: The case for holistic impact, consultancy McKinsey emphasises that “Despite a rapidly changing business landscape, the business case for diversity, equity and inclusion not only holds, but grows even stronger.” Drawing on a dataset spanning 1,265 companies, 23 countries and six global regions, the report finds that organisations with strong female representation are 39% more likely to financially outperform those without. 

The same is true, the report says, of organisations with “greater ethnic diversity representation”. 

Speakers at RAW emphasised that while global data reinforces the economic case, Africa’s task is not to replicate external models but to translate these insights into leadership frameworks that reflect local institutional realities and long-term development priorities.

With its 54 unique countries and historically matriarchal cultures, Africa offers a prime example of where fresh and varied thinking can breathe much needed life into today’s public and private sector institutions. The continent has the creative power not only to redefine its own future, but also serve as a leading example of how innovations may be implemented around the world. 

“In Parliament, we had to push to change our standing orders from ‘Chairman’ of committees to ‘Chairperson’,” said Naisula Lesuuda , Member of Parliament for Samburu West in the Kenya National Assembly, at RAW 2025. “This is because in their minds, ‘Chairman’ automatically meant a man. As a result, all the committees, especially the powerful ones, and even now, as I speak, are still headed by men. So even just the language that we use in our spaces sets a mindset and a stereotype.”

Indeed, last year’s RAW panels revealed a wide spectrum of innovative thought on topics such as “Leading transformations when inclusion isn’t trending”, “Shaping growth and navigating global shifts” and “The female economy and modern health”. 

Substance over symbolism

This emphasis on substance over symbolism has been consistent across editions. Reflecting on earlier editions of the conference, Amina Mohamed, former Minister for Sports, Education and Foreign Affairs of Kenya, described RAW as “a very safe space for women,” while Ozonnia Ojielo, Resident Coordinator and Representative of the UN Secretary-General to Rwanda, underscored its relevance, calling the platform “necessary” and its programming “ground-breaking” and “cutting edge”.

Looking ahead to the 2026 convening, Africa Soft Power founder Nkiru Balonwu argues that the challenge is no longer how to preserve existing institutions, but how to redesign them to function effectively in a rapidly changing global economy.

“Everywhere we look, we see the power of traditional institutions diminishing as they struggle to keep pace with technological and societal change,” says Balonwu. “While the narrative has previously been that we need to find ways to prop up our existing public and private sector organisations to eke out further growth from them, the time has come to ask: how can these systems overall be improved? 

“One of the answers to that question is that we can broaden the perspectives within our infrastructures, and therefore arrive at broader innovations. 

“This year at RAW, we look forward to demonstrating what more representative decision-making and leadership perspectives can deliver for business, rather than focusing narrowly on representation itself.”