Forbes’ third annual 50 Over 50 list recognizes successful women over the age of 50.
The third annual “50 Over 50: Europe, Middle East, and Africa” list was released last Tuesday, following the “50 Over 50” US list.
The women on the new list come from 29 different nations and territories and operate in a variety of industries. Forbes noted that the 50 members of the third annual 50 Over 50 list, who include innovators, CEOs, humanitarians, and vanguards from Europe, the Middle East, and Africa, are defining the future of science, fashion, and finance, as well as the Catholic Church.
Below are the black women who were featured on the list.
1. Olajumoke Adenowo
Adenowo, a 25-year-old architect from Nigeria, founded AD Consulting after enrolling in university at 14. AD Consulting has designed and built over 114 projects, including institutional buildings, offices, and residential dwellings, propelling Adenowo to the forefront of architecture worldwide. Her most recent endeavor is the construction of a $880 million housing complex in South Africa.
2. Graça Machel
Machel is a renowned politician and humanitarian. In 1975, she became Mozambique’s first female cabinet member, serving as education minister. She would devote her career to promoting the rights of women and children.
She also co-founded The Elders, an independent gathering of leaders dedicated to peace and human rights, in 2007. She also founded Girls Not Brides in 2011 to prevent underage marriages. She launched the Graça Machel Trust in 2010 to promote women’s economic and financial development.
She is the first woman in modern history to be named first lady of two countries. She is the widow of Nelson Mandela, South Africa’s former president, and Mozambique’s former president, Samora Machel.
3. Nolitha Fakude
Fakude, who was born in the Eastern Cape, became the first female president of the Minerals Council South Africa in 2021. The Minerals Council South Africa was founded in 1887. She has also been the chair of Anglo-American Mining since 2017.
4. Elizabeth Maruma Mrema
Tanzania’s Mrema became the first African woman to lead the United Nations Convention on Biological Diversity in 2019. Mrema was appointed deputy executive director of the United Nations Environment Programme’s Nairobi-based program four years later, following her part in forging the 2022 COP15 accord, Forbes said.
5. Jane Karuku
Kenyan entrepreneur Karuku was named managing director and CEO of East African Breweries, a Nairobi-based alcohol distributor that sells Pilsner, Baileys, and Guinness in Kenya, Uganda, South Sudan, and Tanzania.
Prior to her appointment, Karuku led Kenya Breweries and the Alliance for a Green Revolution in Africa (AGRA), a non-profit dedicated to strengthening Africa’s agricultural ecosystem.
6. Nonkululeko Nyembezi-Heita
Nyembezi-Heita of South Africa will take over as CEO of Standard Bank Group, Africa’s largest bank, in 2022. She is the first Black female chair of the bank, which has $160 billion in assets and operates in 20 countries across Africa and beyond.
She previously served as CEO of ArcelorMittal South Africa, Africa’s largest steel producer, as well as the South African chapter of the international Ichor Coal.
She was also the Johannesburg Stock Exchange’s non-executive chairman and the first woman to chair the board of Alexander Forbes Group Holdings, an insurance company.
7. Gloria Serobe
Gloria Serobe holds an MBA from Rutgers University. She co-founded Women Investment Portfolio Holdings (WIPHOLD), a mostly Black women-owned and managed investment firm with a portfolio worth more than $107 million.
WIPHOLD invests in industries that can benefit women, such as agriculture, mining, and financial services, and has almost 200,000 beneficiaries.
8. Nadia Fettah
Nadia Fettah is the first woman selected as Morocco’s Minister of Economy and Finance. She also formed the Maroc Invest Finances Group, a private equity firm based in Casablanca, in 2000, before joining the privately held Saham Group in 2005, where she rose to the position of deputy CEO.
9. Kemi DaSilva-Ibru
Kemi DaSilva-Ibru is an OB-GYN physician who started the Women at Risk International Foundation (WARIF), a non-profit dedicated to combating rape, sexual assault, and trafficking of young girls and women in Nigeria. She employs 18 full-time workers and 200 volunteers. Her foundation has helped over 3,000 survivors of rape and sexual assault. The Nigerian doctor is also working for a PhD in gender-based violence at the London School of Hygiene and Tropical Medicine.
10. Rajaâ Cherkaoui El Moursli
According to Forbes, the Moroccan professor of nuclear physics is known for her study that helped verify the existence of the Higgs Boson—the particle responsible for the formation of mass—for which she received the L’Oréal-UNESCO Women in Science Award.