29 May 2014 Forbes has officially released its list of the 100 most powerful women in the world for 2014 and 4 African women have made the list. Presidents of Malawi Joyce Banda and President of Liberia Ellen Johnson Sirleaf come in at 40th and 70th position. Nigerian Coordinating Minister of the Economy is the 44th most powerful woman in the world and oil magnate Folorunsho Alakija is 96th on the list.
Top on the list and most powerful woman in the world for the 9th time is German Chancellor Angela Merkel. Other appearances are former US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton, Pop Star Beyonce and Fecebooks Sheryl Sandberg.
Forbes Magazine describes the list as “its definitive annual guide to the extraordinary icons and leaders, groundbreakers and ceiling crashers who command the world stage”.
The list draws figures from politics, finance, activism, technology and the media. Entrepreneurs rub shoulders with billionaires and world leaders on this list and no matter how disparate their paths may seem, one thing connects them, these are all women of great power, impact and influence on the wlrd stage.