1950 saw the birth of Joyce Banda in Malawi. She graduated with a bachelor’s degree from Atlantic International University, a US-based online college. Prior to concentrating on politics, Joyce Banda established and oversaw a number of businesses and organizations, including a bakery, a garment manufacturing company, the National Association of Business Women of Malawi, the Young Women Leaders Network, the Hunger Project, and the Joyce Banda Foundation, a group devoted to improving the lives of women and children and developing rural areas.
She held several positions prior to her election as president in 2012, including those of Minister of Women, Child Welfare, and Community Services (2004–2006), Minister of Foreign Affairs (2006–2009), and First Female Vice President of the Republic of Malawi (2009-2012). The African Federation of Women Entrepreneurs (AFWE), which is currently active in 41 African nations, the Council for the Economic Empowerment of Women in Africa (CEEWA), and the American & African Business Women’s Alliance (AABWA), of which she served as First President, were all founded in large part due to President Dr. Banda. President Banda was named the most influential woman in Africa and the 40th most powerful woman in the world by Forbes in the same year that she was named CNN’s Leading Woman of the Year in Politics (2014). Women’s rights have been promoted by President Banda in Malawi and beyond.
Summary article by: iSAW Team
Original Article Title: JOYCE BANDA: President of Malawi (2012-2014)
