International Women’s Day | 4 South African women included in KFC's Africa female firsts

“These are not just stories of individual achievement,” says Akhona Qengqe, general manager of KFC Africa. Image supplied.

The list includes four trailblazing South Africans: University of Cape Town (UCT) chancellor Dr Precious Moloi-Motsepe, investment leader Lerato Lehoko, SA’s first chief justice Mandisa Maya, and Professor Quarraisha Abdool Karim, who transformed the fight against Aids by developing tenofovir gel.

Giving hope

“These are not just stories of individual achievement,” says Akhona Qengqe, general manager of KFC Africa.

“These are stories of women who give Africa more.

“They give access where there was exclusion.

“They give opportunity where prospects were limited.

“They give hope where there was none.”

The 55 women honoured, one for each year the brand has been in Africa, also include:

• Nice Leng’ete from Kenya, who in 2014 persuaded Maasai elders to formally abandon female genital mutilation. Working with Amref Health Africa and her own foundation, she has helped over 21,000 girls escape the practice.

• Dr Germaine Retofa from Madagascar, who has transformed maternal care in one of the country’s most impoverished regions into a life-saving system that ensures a woman’s location or income does not affect her chances of survival.

• Alexandra Machado from Mozambique, who is pioneering a circular mentorship model that has impacted 25,000 Mozambican women, tripling school transition rates and proving that investing in female leadership is a high-return strategy for national development.

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“For this year’s list of Africa’s female firsts, we deliberately sought out women whose influence may not fill stadiums but whose impact fills hearts,” says Qengqe.

“They include women who have built tech networks for their female peers, expanded access to healthcare, made menstrual care a national priority, targeted girls for improved education access and tackled the gender pay gap.

“These are women from diverse backgrounds – lawyers, politicians, healthcare workers, entrepreneurs, authors, technologists and community organisers. Some are well-known figures. Many are not.

“What unites them is what they give: mentorship, protection, access, knowledge, visibility, opportunity, resources and time.”

Qengqe says that while progress towards gender equality in sub-Saharan Africa has stalled – the World Economic Forum Global Gender Gap Report 2025 projects that gender parity is 107 years away – lists like these prove that transformation is possible.

“These 55 women are not prepared to wait more than a century,” she says.

“They are giving now so their communities can gain now.

“And when communities gain, Africa rises.”