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Africa's most powerful woman
22/08/2004 17:04 - (SA)
Cape Town - Only one African woman, Mozambique's prime minister Luisa Diogo made it on Forbes magazine's list of 100 most powerful women.
She came in at number 73 after Susan Berresford of the Ford Foundation and ahead of Dr Sima Samar, deputy premier of Afghanistan.
The Forbes list of the world's 100 most powerful women was topped by Condoleezza Rice, the National Security Adviser of US President George W. Bush, according to a special report carried in the leading US business magazine's September 6 issue.
Apart from the US, with 56 candidates on the list, Asian women feature strongly, with China's vice premier Wu Yi (2), India's Sonia Gandhi (3), Indonesian President Megawati Sukarnoputri (8) and Philippine President Gloria Arroyo (9) all ranking among the top ten.
Businesswoman Ho Ching, the media-shy wife of Singapore's new Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong, was a notable non-politician.
Ho, who runs state investment arm Temasek Holdings, was number 24, reflecting her influence as manager of the city-state's multibillion-dollar global business empire.
In 4th place was US First Lady Laura Bush, followed by Senator Hillary Clinton and US Supreme Court Justice Sandra Day O'Connor.
Another US Supreme Court Justice, Ruth Bader Ginsburg, was in 7th place, while 10th place went to Hewlett-Packard chair and chief executive Carly Fiorina.
Forbes said the women can "also qualify for a list of the most powerful people in the world".
It said they had made "a refreshing break from the conventional wisdom about women and power" by breaking the notion that women can only gain power by working behind the scenes and forging consensus.
"Not anymore - they are already several rounds into the fight to change the businesses they work at, the societies in which they live and the world," Forbes said.
The list also included heiresses, media and entertainment personalities, queens and the wives of political leaders.
Former British Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher was 21st on the list, while Britain's first lady, Cherie Blair, was number 12.
Queen Rania of Jordan was in 13th place, Britain's Queen Elizabeth II in 22nd place and television host Barbara Walters was in 25th place.
Forbes admitted that the list was arbitrary, and that they "attempted the impossible - comparing the incommensurable -by creating a power scorecard".
For each candidate Forbes came up with a numerical weight defined by title and resume; the size of the economic sphere in which the woman wields power (a foundation is measured by its endowment, a country by its GDP); and the number of global media mentions.
"We threw in some subjective adjustments - more weight to a current head of state than a former one, for instance."
Lastly, Forbes called in the advice of the pros who study women at Catalyst, a nonprofit research group in New York, and Laura Liswood, secretary general of the Council of Women World Leaders.
- AFP/Forbes.com
- Finance24
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