It is with great appreciation that you find an organisation like Vital Voices in partnership with Exxon Mobil finding the need to raise women’s leaders political consciousnesness and to equip African women with the necessary public life skills so that women who want to make it into public life always have a cutting edge. To Vital Voices and Exxon Mobil, this African woman shares the same feeling that investing in women is the right and only way to go.

Women remain an endangered specie in Parliaments all over the world, that is because of the constitent low represenation in such decison making bodies. Yes, numbers do matter, yet there is no commitment from different Heads of Government to ensure equal representation of women in politics and decision making. Parliament remains the highest law making body or institution in any country. It is in this regard that women need to effectively participate and influence policies and decisions at this level. Politics is the right place for a woman. The participation of women in politics and political processes transforms the face and nature of politics. Moreso in Africa, where women hold a transformative role in African politics.

Equal represenation remains a cry and a demand in Africa and all over the world. As they say, development would not be meaningful without the full participation of women. Investing in women is the right way to go. Invest in women and indeed invesy in the world!