Skip to content
Women Heads of State

Training Workshop

28 APRIL 2022

Unspoken Rules for Women Working in Public Service in Africa

The first pan-African virtual training workshop for women early in their government careers. The training session was free to any woman in any of the fifty-four countries in Africa, and was convened by Africa.com and Coca-Cola Africa as part of the Women Heads of State Initiative.

Guest Speakers

Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila
Hon. Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila Prime Minister of Namibia (March 2015 - Present)
Ms Patricia Obozuwa
Patricia Obozuwa Vice President, Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability, Africa, The Coca-Cola Company

Workshop Facilitators

Chris Stone
Chris Stone
Professor of Practice of Public Integrity
The Blavatnik School of Government
Oxford University
Gorick Ng
Gorick Ng
Career Adviser
Harvard College
WSJ Best Selling Author

The workshop was formatted into four segments:

SEGMENT 1

Prime Minister Saara Kuugongelwa-Amadhila presented Opening Remarks to offer advice for civil servants.

SEGMENT 2

Moderated by Oxford Professor Christopher Stone on Advancing a Culture of Integrity, featured Ms Tejumola Abisoye, Ms Abena Annobea Asare, Ms Amani Rabei, and Ms Rose Wachuka.

SEGMENT 3

Ms Patricia Obozuwa, Coca-Cola Vice President for Public Affairs, Communications & Sustainability in Africa, on How to Kick Start Your Career in Public Service.

SEGMENT 4

Gorick Ng, Career Counselor at Harvard University, presented an interactive session on How to Stand Out as a Public Servant and featured Ms Elizabeth Obeng-Yeboah, Dr Yakama Manty Jones, Ms Nomtandazo Thandi Moyo, Ms Gloria Zayzay Dole, and Ms Christine Tenneh Dono.

Watch the full-length workshop video replay:

Training young women in government across Africa is so important because they need to continuously increase their knowledge and skills in order to ensure an effective and more responsive public service

According to the Mo Ibrahim Foundation’s Report on Public Service in Africa, the average age of a public servant is around 41 years of age, with about 15 years of service in the same agency. The report noted that opportunities for mobility in public service are limited.

Africa.com is motivated to use the media platform we have built over the last twelve years as a force for good. The last two years have taught us all about the power of distance learning, and we are excited to present world class professional development workshops to every African woman.

Workshops are free for any woman in Africa, working in public service. Men are welcome too!

Be the first to know what we're doing.