Last year, the Graca Machel Trust launched the Women Advancing Africa initiative in Dar es Salaam. The founder spoke to Citizen news editor Esther Karin Mngodo about amplifying women’s voices

Why was the Women Advancing Africa initiative founded?

We have recognised women leaders in the political arena, and other sectors, such as health and telecoms. But there is a void when it comes to a platform for women in the economic sphere. We focus on education and women’s rights. When it comes to women’s rights, our focus is on the economy.

We believe that is where progress has been low, and there is no clarity among women on where they want to be in five or 10 years. So we decided to launch this initiative — Women Advancing Africa — to recognise, celebrate and value what we have achieved; to build connections, and to encourage one another and be part of the Pan-African movement.

WAA isn’t the first body to advocate for women’s financial inclusion. What makes it different from the others?
There are some national and sub-regional initiatives. But we do not know of a Pan-African space in which women come together to talk and plan.

And this is what we thought to do every two years. Women Advancing Africa is a platform for women from different sectors — business, entrepreneurship, science, communications — to come together and say where we are today and where we want to go. Progress can be made at the national level when we bring existing women’s associations together. Networking is our option, whether you are in construction, mining, or any other field, you are not going to be able to move ahead alone.

We base our work on national networks, but we believe that barriers in Tanzania are also barriers in Zambia, Uganda, Mozambique. So, why should we struggle alone? Any one of our countries has common issues with other countries on the continent, which have to be addressed as a movement.

We must hold hands and share knowledge and expertise. WAA is a space to walk hand-in-hand, a place to transmit the energy of creativity and innovation from Nigeria and Ghana to influence women in Uganda and Rwanda. The energy of innovation and creativity that can be experienced in DRC to influence women in Malawi.

That is how our Pan-African movement will make us strong, united and unstoppable.

We claim our right to sit where decisions are made. We claim our right to shape policies, to shape plans and strategies. We claim our right to access to resources in a variety of forms — information, skills, financial, removal of legal obstacles. We want to stand shoulder-to-shoulder with our partners, to change how women are regarded and treated.

There are good policies in place. Yet in practice, women are not regarded as equals. We are going to assert, in this second struggle, that equality is not a favour. For us to do that, we need to learn from one another, to empower women, to fight together, to set priorities on common agendas. If we are fragmented, working at many things at the same time, we are not going to move or make progress.

In what ways would women benefit from WAA?
WAA is a platform for women to discover where they can sell their products, how we can increase intra-Africa trade. It is important to trade with China and the US and the UK, but to transform this continent, we have to learn how to trade with people on the continent. This is how you understand the market in Togo, and what kind of products you should sell in Niger. Talk to them and build a sisterhood. That is why we chose these pillars carefully, particularly for African markets.

We would like leaders in business networks in this country to take this as yours. You are the voice of other women.

Do not be afraid to showcase what you have achieved. Tell the stories and allow people to speak on their own behalf. And when you speak on your own behalf, you are also saying, “We collectively agree.” This is an opportunity for Tanzania to take the lead in this second liberation in Africa.

As a young girl, did you ever see yourself leading a movement and uniting women across borders in the continent?
When we are much younger, we tend to look at the environment in which we are.

We seek opportunities to grow, and you are propelled to be on a certain platform. That platform, opens your eyes and ears to understand much broader issues than what you understood when you were younger.

I never thought, when I was in my primary or secondary education, that I would be a special representative for the UN Secretary General. I worked as minister of education, and we developed some strategies that became the reference point for the global community to deal with children in situations of conflict, then they asked me to lead the team, which was under the UN. It was an opportunity that was opened up for me while implementing programmes that I believed in and felt very strongly about.

As to what I am doing now, I have been involved in promoting girls’ education. I am one of the founders of FAWE (Forum for African Women Educationalists). I have been part of the emancipation of women for political positions. In that process, I realised that there was something missing — the economic liberation of women in Africa.

There are many others who are going to be part of the political struggle for women; now we are looking at who is going to be the next female president when Ellen Johnson Sirleaf steps down. I felt like no one was driving a Pan-African initiative in the economic area.
As a girl, I never saw myself as First Lady.

Much later, even when I married Madiba, I had already embraced my causes with women’s rights, and I continued to do that. It wasn’t because I was Madiba’s wife.
It was not the position of First Lady that led me to be on the platforms that I now am. And as you know, I lost my first husband when I was with the UN. Now that Madiba is no longer there, I continue to do my work. I think it is the case of choosing what causes to embrace.

Why Tanzania?
We chose Tanzania because it is the cradle of political liberation. I am one of those who lived in that period. All of us owe Tanzania. We learnt lessons that instilled in us dreams and vision of what it means to empower people. In Tanzania we got all kinds of support. In every village, everyone knew about Frelimo, ANC, Zanu and all of us.

We were supported by ordinary people in this nation. They mobilised themselves to support the liberation movement. We cannot thank Tanzania enough.

We believe that now we are in the second liberation, which is economic liberation, so we thought we should come here, to Tanzania, for inspiration. I have a strong emotional attachment here. I always have felt that Tanzania gave us the best. And it was not rich in those days. Tanzania did not have much in terms of resources.

I am Mwalimu’s child. Mwalimu is my mentor. I listened to him hundreds of times when he was addressing people. I observed how he carried himself as a leader of this country and leader of the continent and leader of the globe, actually. He is an inspiration to me.

Why focus on women’s economic liberation at this time?
We believe that this is not just a women’s issue. This is a national and continental issue. It is a development issue. It is a social justice issue.

We need to overcome traditional sentiments of women being timid, not being bold enough.

We need to have a clear message, and organise ourselves so that when we sit at the table with leaders, our partners, we say exactly what the issues are. We want to have women from different sectors who are the best examples of the progress women have made.

We are in charge in putting African women at centre stage in Africa and globally.

This continent will not advance unless women are in the driving seat. We are going to make our continent more prosperous while we are changing ourselves. That is why the pillars for this forum are financial inclusion, access to markets and social change.