4 Ghanaians Who Were First-Ever Women To Become CEOs Of Top Companies In Ghana

• Well-known companies in Ghana such as Vodafone Ghana, Ghana Chamber of Mines, AirtelTigo, among others made history after appointing females to top positions
• Patricia Obo-Nai, became Vodafone Ghana's very first female chief executive officer on February, 19, 2019
• Lucy Quist transitioned from being an electrical engineer to the telecommunication space and became CEO of Airtel back in 2014
• Benonita Bismarck and Joyce Rosalind Aryee also set the pace after being appointed as first female CEOs in their various fields

The role of women in the world as a whole has massively evolved over the years. In Ghana, various advocates rose and fought to ensure women had equal rights to education as their male counterparts. Gradually, their duties have transitioned from being just home makers and baby carriers to occupying high seats at the table.

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Aside education, another issue women had to deal with for many years was the need to constantly prove they deserve the same opportunities in the workspace as men do. There have however been thousands of women whose hard work have spoken for them once they got the right opportunities and through that have risen through the ranks in their careers.

YEN.com.gh seeks to highlight four of such women who excelled in their professional roles and through that got appointed to topmost positions;

1. Benonita Bismarck, first female CEO of Ghana Shippers Authority

Benonita got appointed by the current President of Ghana, Nana Akufo Addo in 2017 to head the Ghana Shippers Authority after holding various positions in the shipping industry.

Prior to her appointment, she was the CEO of Global Marine Services Limited and also held positions such as Commercial Manager at Mediterranean Shipping Company and was also formerly the Head of Operations at the Ghana Red Cross Society.

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In 2018, she was adjudged Outstanding Woman CEO of the Year by the Ghana Entrepreneur & Corporate Executive Awards schemes based on her corporate vision, leadership strategy, business excellence, innovation and her growth in the shipping and logistics industry in Ghana.

2. Patricia Obo-Nai, first female CEO of Vodafone Ghana

She became Vodafone Ghana's first ever female chief executive officer on February, 19, 2019 after working there as Chief Technology Officer, a member of the Executive Committee and Director of Fixed Business and Customer Operations since 2011. She also worked with Millicom Ghana Limited, operators of Tigo for 14 years.

Patricia has a bachelor's degree in Electrical Engineering from Kwame Nkrumah University of Science and Technology. She also holds an Executive MBA from the University of Ghana as well as an Executive Education degree from Kellogg School of Management in the US.

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She was listed among the top 100 women CEOs in Africa by Reset Global People in partnership with the SDGS office at the Office of the President of Ghana and Avance Media.

3. Joyce Rosalind Aryee, first female CEO of the Ghana Chamber of Mines

Her career in both the public and private sectors of Ghana lasted for more than 40 years. In 2001, Joyce became the chief executive officer for the Ghana Chamber of mines and functioned in that role for 10 years. This made her the first ever woman to head an African Chamber of Mines.

She is a product of Achimota School and the University of Ghana, Legon where she pursued a degree in English.

Joyce is currently the executive director of Salt and Light Ministries. She won the the African Female Business Leader award in 2009 and in 2019, was listed among the 100 Most Influential African Women by Avance Media.

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4. Lucy Quist, first ever female CEO of Airtel Ghana now AirtelTigo Ghana

Her electrical engineering career started at Ford Motors Company and from there joined the Royal Bank of Scotland as a change manager in 2007. After one year there, Lucy pivoted from the electrical engineering field to the telecommunication industry. Her first job in the new field was with Millicom International Cellular and she became the first female Chief Marketing Officer for the company.

Lucy became the first ever female chief executive officer of top telecommunication company Airtel now AirtelTigo in 2014 after working as a Head of Strategy & Planning, and Managing Director at Vodafone Ghana.

She is currently a Managing Director at top investment management and financial services firm, Morgan Stanley and also the author of the book, 'The bold New Normal'.

Ghanaian Female CEO Sacrifices Profit From Her Bread Business To Prevent Workers From Leaving

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Meanwhile YEN.com.gh earlier reported that a Ghanaian businesswoman identified as Maa Regi was recently granted an interview by Joy News where she opened up about the effects of the current economic state of Ghana on her business.

The video sighted by YEN.com.gh on the Facebook page of Joy News had the elderly CEO revealing that she has had to sacrifice her profits to increase the salaries of her workers by 5%.

She stated that, that sacrifice was the surest way to ensuring the workers do not run off and leave the business non-operational. Maa Regi has also had to reduce production of bread from 6,000 loaves per day to 4,000 and has also increased the price of a loaf.

Source: YEN.com.gh