Hafsat Abiola

A committed humanist, Hafsat Abiola is President of the Women in Africa Initiative, the foremost platform organising the African continent’s leading women into a force for sustainable development. She is an economist, educated at Harvard and Tsinghua; a pro-democracy activist who lost both parents to Nigeria’s struggle for democracy; and a former member of her state cabinet in charge of trade and investment portfolios and attainment of the MDGs. Ms. Abiloa believes firmly that women’s equal engagement in the economy and in governance systems at all levels will lead to a better world. She is one of 50 councillors at the World Future Council and a member of the BMW Foundation’s Responsible Leaders Group, Vital Voices 100, and the World Economic Forum’s Young Global Leaders alumni community. She is also the recipient of several global and national awards, including the U.S. National Civil Rights Museum Award in 2019.