The Chief Executive Officer of the Rwanda Development Board (RDB), is expected to deliver the keynote address for the Young African Women Congress (YAWC) 2017 scheduled for July 23 – 27, 2017 in Accra, Ghana.

Ms. Clare Akamanzi will speak on the theme for the congress, “Harnessing Africa’s Demographic Dividend: the Case for Women in Leadership”.  

A statement from the ExLA Group Gender Programme said Ms. Akamanzi will give insights into how Africa can fully utilise the advantage of its demography with women in leadership.

She will also pay heed to the Rwandan success story and how they benefit from being one of the topmost countries in promoting gender diversity in leadership at all levels.

Touting the credentials of the RDB CEO the statement said, Ms. Akamanzi also serves as Member of the Cabinet of Rwanda.

“Prior to these roles, she served as Head of Strategy and Policy for H.E President Paul Kagame. She has been a prominent figure in the socio-economic transformation of Rwanda having served as the Chief Operations Officer (COO) of the RDB for over 7 years.

Ms. Akamanzi has also previously served as a Commercial Diplomat in London and a Trade Negotiator in Geneva at the World Trade Organization. She is an International Trade and Investment Lawyer, who has lived, schooled and worked in 7 countries in 3 continents but nothing beats the privilege of being part of rebuilding her nation,” the statement said.

She is a 2012 Young Global Leader of the World Economic Forum and was named one of Africa’s Top 20 leading women in economic development by Forbes in 2013.

Ms Akamanzi is a Harvard Kennedy School MPA alum, where she was the recipient of the Lucius N. Littaeur Fellows Award; the Raymond & Josephine Vernon Award, both for academic excellence and distinguished contribution to HKS community, as well as the Robert F. Kennedy Award for Excellence in Public Service. She also holds an LLM (International Trade and Investment) with distinction from the University of Pretoria, South Africa, and LLM (Hons) from Makerere University, Uganda.

The Young African Women Congress (YAWC) 2017 will be a gathering of young women within the age limits of 18 and 40 across Africa and the diaspora in a 5-day residential congress to discuss issues pertinent to women and girls’ development on the continent. They will be guided by accomplished women leaders through keynote presentation, panel discussions, group sessions and career fairs among others. 

Prospective participants can register at www.yawcafrica.org