“While the role of many First Ladies across the world is not constitutionally mandated, their unique role centres largely on identifying and spearheading certain social causes.”…Lisa-Anne Julien
In spearheading certain social causes as identified by Julien in her work, ‘Africa’s First Ladies: Unofficial influencers’, these amazons tend to become more visible and audible, hence, the debate on the official/unofficial status of the office of the First Lady.
In this article, Biografrica takes a look at some of the young, beautiful and classy African first ladies who are championing the course of philanthropy in the continent.
- Monica Geingos (Namibia)
Monica Geingos is a 46 years old qualified lawyer with extensive corporate experience. Before assuming the First Lady role in 2015, she was a co-shareholder and Managing Director of Namibia’s largest private equity fund for over a decade and served on the Boards of large public and private sector companies as either Chairperson or Deputy Chairperson.
Geingos married Hage Geingob on Valentine’s Day in 2015, a month before he was sworn in as president of the southern African desert nation, which gained independence from SA in 1990 but remains starkly unequal.
She went viral after she promised to give away all her wealth, estimated at $3m, to charity when she dies. Monica Geingos is on a mission to change the image of African first ladies and tackle sexism and inequality in Namibia, the world’s second most unequal country.
Mrs. Geingos was a long-standing member of the President’s Economic Advisory Council, the governing Party’s Think Tank, and the National Council of the Namibia Chamber of Commerce and Industry, with the mandate to advise on national policy formulation and implementation.
- Lalla Salma (Morocco)
Born on 10th May, 1978 Lalla Salma got married to the Moroccan King Mohammed VI on 12th and 13th of July 2002 at Dar al-Makhzen (the principal Royal palace) in Rabat, Morocco.
The beautiful fashion aficionado founded the Lalla Salma Foundation that works for the prevention and treatment of Cancer and she has also been involved in HIV/AIDS prevention in Africa.She was made a Goodwill Ambassador for the World Health Organisation.
However, since she has not been seen in an official capacity since December 2017, there have been speculations in the media that the couple are divorced.
Prior to her disappearance from public view, humanitarian advocacy was where her heart was despite her royal status.
- Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow (Gambia):
Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow was born on August 5, 1974, Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow got married to Adama Barrow as his first wife on March 20, 1997, before he became president in January 2017. Bah-Barrow supported her husband’s election campaign in the run-up to the 2016 Gambian presidential election. Similar to his predecessor, Yahya Jammeh, the new President Adama Barrow stipulated that only his first wife, Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow, should assume the role of First Lady of the Gambia.
In her role as First Lady, she supports charities and aid organisations. She founded the Fatoumatta Bah-Barrow Foundation (FaBB) on May 1, 2017, with the goals of combating poverty and supporting the sick, women and children. In February 2018, the foundation entered into a partnership with the medical group Merck KGaA to combat infertility in women.
- Mialy Rajoelina (Madagascar)
Rajoelina is the spouse of President Andry Rajoelina of Madagascar. She is the president and spokesperson of Fitia, a humanitarian association aiming to help the poor and the sick. She is recorded as the youngest first lady Madagascar has ever had. Mialy who has a master’s degree in finances and accounting management at the Conservatoire National des Arts et Métiers in Paris, met her future husband Andry Rajoelina in a high school in Antananarivo in 1994 before they got married in 2000. Mialy have three kids with Andry: two boys, Arena (born 2002) and Ilonstoa (born 2005), and a daughter born in 2007 that the couple named Andrialy, a contraction of their own names.
Since her husband became president, Mialy founded the FITIA association, which collects donations and offers them to the most vulnerable in Madagascar, especially women. Supporters of Milay and her husband say that the FITIA show that the couple care for Madagascar and its people.
- Fatima Maada Bio (Sierra Leone)
This former actress, screenwriter and film producer was born in Koidu, Kono District, Sierra Leone on 27 November 1980. Wife of President Julius Maada Bio since 2013, Fatima holds a Bachelor of Arts with Honours degree in Performing Art from the Roehampton Institute in London. She also earned a Bachelor of Arts degree in journalism at the University of the Arts, London College of Communication, in 2017. Prior to her marriage to Maada Bio, Fatima had a successful career in the entertainment industry under her maiden name Fatima Jabbe.
Bio is a patron of a number of charities in the UK, including the John Utaka Foundation, which helps African children and young people cope with health challenges.
In May 2021, The African Ministers’ Council on Water, AMCOW, recognised Her Excellency Fatima Maada Bio, as African Champion of Sanitation and Hygiene. She became the third prominent person to be honoured with such a feat after Rwanda’s President Paul Kagame and former President of Liberia, Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Fatima Bio’s “Hands off our Girls”, an NGO she established to combat sexual violence, child trafficking, prostitution, Child marriage and pregnancy, once again, announced the beautiful first lady as an advocate of women/girl’s rights in her country. To drive home the need to protect women and girls from the cankerworm of rape, Fatima led an estimated 300 to 400 demonstrators who protested against sexual violence against women, days after the Sierra Leone government promised a crackdown on rape and sexual abuse few years back.