List of the first women holders of political offices in Africa

Algeria

Minister of Culture – Khalida Toumi - 2002 Nadia Labidi – 2014
Minister of Education – Nouria Benghabrit-Remaoun – 2014
Minister of Land-Use Planning and Environment – Dalila Boudjemaa – 2014
Minister of Family and Women – Mounia Meslem – 2014
Minister of Post,Information Technology and Communication Women – Zahra Dardouri – 2014
Minister of Tourism – Nouria Yamina Zerhouni – 2014
Minister of Artisana & Handicrafts Aish Tabagho – 2014

Benin

Foreign minister – Mariam Aladji Boni Diallo – 2006

Botswana

Foreign minister – Gaositwe K.T. Chiepe – 1985
Chairperson of the House of Chiefs – Mosadi Seboko – 2003^[1]

Burundi

Prime Minister – Sylvie Kinigi – 1993
President (acting) – Sylvie Kinigi – 1993
Foreign minister – Antoinette Batumubwira – 2006

Cape Verde

Foreign minister – Fátima Veiga – 2002
Defence minister – Cristina Fontes Lima – 2006

Central African Republic

Government minister – Marie-Joséphe Franck – 1970
Prime Minister – Elisabeth Domitien – 1975
Foreign minister – Léonie Banga-Bothy – 2013
Head of State – Catherine Samba-Panza – 2014

Comoros

Member of the Assembly of the Union of the Comoros – Djoueria Abdallah – 2004

Democratic Republic of the Congo

Zaire

Foreign minister – Ekila Liyonda – 1987

Egypt

Ancient

Pharaoh (Head of state) – Sobekneferu – 1806 BC (first known female Head of state in history)

Mamluk Sultanate

Sultana (Head of state) – Shajar al-Durr – 1250 (first female Head of state in the Arab world)

Republic

Member of Parliament – Rawya Ateya – 1957 (first female MP in the Arab world)
Minister (for Social Affairs) – Dr. Hikmat Abu Zayd – 1962^[2]
Mayor – Eva Habil, (Komboha) – 2008

Ethiopia

Monarch – Empress Zewditu – 1916

Gabon

Foreign minister – Pascaline Mferri Bongo – 1991
President (interim) – Rose Francine Rogombé – 2009
Speaker of Senate – Rose Francine Rogombé – 2009

The Gambia

Vice President – Isatou Njie-Saidy – 1997
Foreign minister – Susan Waffa-Ogoo – 2012

Ghana

Foreign minister – Gloria Amon Nikoi – 1979

Guinea

Foreign minister – Mahawa Bangoura – 2000

Guinea-Bissau

President (acting) – Carmen Pereira – 1984
Foreign minister – Hilia Barber – 1999
Defence minister – Filomena Mascarenhas Tipote – 2005
Prime Minister (acting) – Adiato Djaló Nandigna – 2012

Kenya

Kenya Colony

Mayor of Nairobi – Lady Gwladys Delamere – 1938

Republic

Foreign minister – Amina Mohamed – 2013
Minister of Constitutional Affairs - Martha Karua 2008-2009

^[3]

Lesotho

Monarch (regent) – Queen 'Mamohato – 1970
Speaker of the National Assembly – Ntlhoi Motsamai – 1999

Liberia

Foreign minister – Dorothy Musuleng-Cooper – 1994
Chairwoman of the Council of State (head of state) – Ruth Perry – 1997
Chief Justice Gloria Musu-Scott 1998-2003
Mayor of Monrovia – Ophelia Hoff Saytumah – 2001
President pro tempore of the Liberian Senate – Grace B. Minor – 2002
President – Ellen Johnson Sirleaf – 2006
Vice President – Jewel Taylor – 2018

Libya

Minister of Health – Fatima Hamroush – 2011

Madagascar

Foreign minister – Lila Ratsifandrihamanana – 1998
Defence minister – Cécile Manorohanta – 2007
Prime Minister (acting) – Cécile Manorohanta – 2009

Malawi

Foreign minister – Lilian Patel – 2000
Interior minister – Anna Kachikho – 2005
Vice President – Joyce Banda – 2009
President – Joyce Banda – 2012^[4]

Mali

Foreign minister – Sy Kadiatou Sow – 1994
Prime minister – Cissé Mariam Kaïdama Sidibé – 2011

Mauritania

Government minister – Aïssata Kane – 1975
Foreign minister – Naha Mint Mouknass – 2009
Mayor of Nouakchott – Maty Mint Hamady – 2014

Mauritius

Minister of Youth and Sports – Marie Claude Arouff-Parfait – 1995
Minister of Gender Equality, Child Development and Family Welfare – Indira Thacoor Sidaya – 1995
Minister of Social Security, National Solidarity and Reform Institutions – Sheila Bappoo – 2005
Parliamentary Private Secretary – Kalyanee Bedwantee Juggoo – 2010
President (acting) – Monique Ohsan Bellepeau – 2012
Minister of Education and human Resources – Leela Devi Dookhun Luchoomun – 2014
President – Ameenah Gurib-Fakim – 2015

Morocco

Secretary of State for Literacy and non-formal Education – Najima Rhozali – 2002
Mayor – Asma Chaabi, (Essaouira) – 2003
Minister of Energy and Mines – Amina Benkhadra – 2007
Secretary of State for Foreign Affairs – Latifa Akherbach – 2007
Secretary of State for Education – Latifa Labida – 2007
Minister of Sports – Nawal El Moutawakel – 2007
Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family, and Social Development – Nouzha Skalli – 2007
Minister of Culture – Touriya Jabrane – 2007
Minister of Health – Yasmina Baddou – 2007
Minister of Solidarity, Women, Family and Social Development – Bassima Hakkaoui – 2012
Ministry of Craft and Social Economy – Fatema Marouane – 2013

Mozambique

Prime Minister – Luisa Diogo – 2004
Foreign minister – Alcinda Abreu – 2005

Namibia

Interior minister – Rosalia Nghidinwa – 2005
Foreign Minister – Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah – 2013
Prime Minister – Saara Kuugongelwa – 2015
Deputy Prime Minister – Netumbo Nandi-Ndaitwah – 2015

Niger

Foreign minister – Aïchatou Mindaoudou – 1999

Nigeria

Finance Minister – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala – 2003
Foreign Minister – Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala- 2006

Anambra State

Governor of Anambra State (South East Nigeria) – Virginia Etiaba – 2006

Rivers State

Commissioner of Works – Felicity Okpete Ovai – 2003
Deputy Governor of Rivers State (Southern Nigeria) – Ipalibo Banigo – 2015

Rwanda

Prime Minister – Agathe Uwilingiyimana – 1993
Minister of Foreign Affairs – Rosemary Museminali – 2008
President of the Chamber of Deputies of Rwanda – Rose Mukantabana – 2008^[5]

Saint Helena, Ascension and Tristan da Cunha

Governor – Lisa Phillips – 2016

São Tomé and Príncipe

Foreign minister – Maria do Nascimento da Graça Amorim – 1978
Prime Minister – Maria das Neves – 2002

Senegal

Prime Minister – Mame Madior Boye – 2001

Seychelles

Foreign minister – Danielle de St. Jorre – 1989

Sierra Leone

Ella Koblo Gulama (1957) The first woman to be elected to Sierra Leone's House of Representatives as Paramount Chief Member for Moyamba District.
Foreign minister – Shirley Gbujama – 1996

Somalia

Foreign minister – Fowsiyo Yusuf Haji Adan – 2012
Deputy prime minister – Fowsiyo Yusuf Haji Adan – 2012

Somaliland

Foreign minister – Edna Adan Ismail – 2003

South Africa

Union

Leader of a political party – Margaret Ballinger, President of the Liberal Party of South Africa – 1953
Mayor of Cape Town – Joyce Newton Thompson – 1959

Republic

Government minister – Rina Venter – 1989
Health minister – Rina Venter – 1989
Foreign minister – Nkosazana Dlamini-Zuma – 1999
Deputy President – Phumzile Mlambo-Ngcuka – 2005
Leader of a major political party – Helen Zille – 2007
Premier of Western Cape – Lynne Brown – 2008

Swaziland

Monarch (regent) – Queen Dzeliwe – 1982

Tanzania

Foreign minister – Asha-Rose Migiro – 2006

Tunisia

First Minister of Women's Affairs – Fethia Mzali – 1983
First Minister of Public Health – Souad Yaacoubi – 1984
First Minister of the Environment – Faïza Kefi – 1999
First Minister of Vocational Training – Faïza Kefi – 2001
First Minister of Employment – Neziha Zarrouk – 2001
First Female Leader of a Political Party – Maya Jribi – 2006
First Minister of Culture – Moufida Tlatli – 2011
First, First Vice-President of the Legislative assambly (Constituent Assembly of Tunisia) – Meherzia Labidi Maïza – 2011^[6]
First Second Vice-Presidente of Legislative assambly (Assembly of the Representatives of the People) – Faouzia Ben Fodha – 2014
First Minister of Commerce – Nejla Moalla – 2014
First Minister of Tourism – Amel Karboul – 2014