This year’s celebration of International Women’s Day undoubtedly saw a plethora of impactful celebrations across the nation and indeed around the World.

Guarded by the urgent and strong theme of “I am Generation Equality: Realizing Women’s Rights” many groups and organizations developed platforms for women to interact and collaborate on initiatives to help propel their collective efforts forward.

Extraordinarily noteworthy was The 5th Women of Excellence Awards, which certainly stood out.

It highlighted the remarkable journeys and successes of 24 outstanding Women, who have not only excelled in their fields of endeavour but have also cultivated personalities which have stayed true to the cause of Gender Equality and the empowerment of women.

With a special focus on their roles as trailblazers in National Development, the awards, citations and certificates were bestowed upon the carefully selected women as an acknowledgement of their unique and exemplary industry successes and unwavering resilience.

Some of these eminent awardees who have continuously made outstanding contributions to the socio-economic development of the nation were Mrs Freda Duplan - the first female managing director of Nestlé Ghana (Manufacturing), Nana Ama Poku - Deputy CEO of the Ghana EXIM Bank (Enterprise Finance); Professor Audrey Gadzekpo - Dean of the School of Information and Communication Studies (Journalism); Patricia Obo - Nai - CEO Vodafone Ghana (Telecommunications); Dr Afua Asabea Asare - CEO of the Ghana Export Promotion Authority (Export Promotion) Dr Lydia Dsane - Selby - CEO of the National Health Insurance Authority (Health Insurance).

Other were Elsie Addo Awadzi - Second Deputy Governor of the Bank of Ghana, Nora Bannerman - CEO of Sleek Garments Export Limited (Shipping / Trade Facilitation), Brigadier-General Felicia Twum-Barima - Defense Advisor at Ghana’s Embassy in Abidjan; Professor Emerita Manuh - Professor of African Studies; University of Ghana (Tertiary Education), Dr Laurencia Malm  - Program Manager, National Malaria Control Programme (Health Care), Mrs Beatrice Abbey - CEO, Media General (Media), Benonita Bismarck, CEO, Ghana Shippers Authority (Shipping &Trade), Ayesha Bedwei, President of the American Chamber of Commerce in Ghana (Corporate Consultancy).

Hannah Awo - NAFTI (Film Production); Kakra Duffuor - Nyarko, CEO, Starlife Assurance (Life Insurance); Korkor Otchere - Deputy Director-General of SSNIT (Pensions); Comfort Owusu - Executive Director of the Association of Rural Banks (Rural Banking); Serwa Quaynor - Founder, Autism Awareness Training Center (Charity); Rev. Patricia Sappor - President of the Chartered Institute of Bankers (Universal Banking); Rita Ohene Darfoh - Director for Policy and Planning at the Ministry of Roads and Highways (Engineering); The Tagoe Sisters (Culture and Music) and Kosi Yankey - Ayeh, the first female Executive Director of the National Board of Small Scale Industries were also honoured.

Boasting of previous powerhouse trailblazers such as Dr Joyce Rosaling Aryee - Founder, Salt and Light Ministries; Anna Bossman - Ghana’s Ambassador to France; Akua Kuenyehia - first Vice -President of the International Criminal Court in The Hague, Netherlands; Professor Henrietta Mensah Bonsu - Member of the United Nations Independent Panel On Peace Operations;  Mary Chinery-Hesse - the first woman to head the UN ILO the Ghana Women of Excellence Awards and Beatrice Wiafe Addai - founder and President of Breast Care International (BCI), serves as a clear reminder of the need for women across industries to pursue excellence.

The 5th Ghana Women of Excellence Awards was held on March 7, 2020, in Accra, under the auspices of the Gender Ministry.