Sophia Bekele has been named one of “Top 20 Inspirational African Diaspora Professional Women” by (ADIPWE List 2014) on International Women’s Day, released on 28th March 2014.
Last year, Bekele was named Top “50 Trailblazers – A future made in Africa”, by the influential UK’s NewAfrican Magazine and also in the same year, recognized among the leading ladies in Africa’s ICT sector” by “Bloomberg TV that same year.
The ADIPWE List was founded in the year 2011 to mark the 100th Anniversary of International Women’s Day. Each year in March, the African Diaspora Professional Women in Europe (ADIPWE) compiles a list of inspirational women of African origin living in Europe and elsewhere in the Diaspora.
While Bekele is well known in her industry, the ADIPWE Top 20 List celebrates the success of African Women in Europe and also gives visibility to African Women who have achieved phenomenal success, but are still unknown.
The List aims to inspire a new generation of African Women and to share ideas to fulfill their potential to contribute to the rebranding of Africa and the development of the continent, by identifying opportunities to transfer the vast amount of knowledge gained in Europe and the rest of the Diaspora.
The ADIPWE List is a result of votes cast from the African Diaspora community on whom they find to be inspirational. The reasons the listed women are found to be inspirational are included in their profiles.
Others named on the 2014 ADIPWE List include Lupita Nyong’o, (Kenya), Actress, Film and Music Video Director; Dambisa Moyo (Zambia), Economist and Author; Femi Oke (Nigeria), Television Presenter and Journalist; Swaady Martin-Leke (Cote-d’Ivoire), Founder & CEO YSWARA; Bella Ikpasaja (Nigeria), Founding Editor Zeitgeist Africa; Jesssica Shelver (South Africa), Campaigner; Magatte Wade (Senegal) Serial-entrepreneur; Grace Amey-Obeng (Ghana), CEO FC Group of Companies; Amina Gerba (Cameroun), President and Founder of Kariliss; Hannah Acquah (Ghana), Economist, Social Entrepreneur; Hawa Dème (Mali), Chief Compliance & Internal Control Officer; Sophie Ekoue (Togo), Journalist and Author; Amina Odidi (Nigeria), Co-Chief Scientific Officer & Director, IntelliPharmaCeutics; Agnes Giteau (Kenya), Trade Consultant – East Africa; Mina Salami (Nigeria), Award-Winning Blogger, Writer and Commentator; Ada Maduakoh (Nigeria), Director/Managing Partner, Sandown Corporate Ltd; Pauline Long (Kenya), Founder and Producer, BEFFTA Awards; Justina Mutale, Zambia, Social Entrepreneur & Speaker; and Wendy Luhabe (South Africa), Businesswoman & Author.