"It is important to address systemic, structural and financial challenges that hinder young people from realizing their potential and take advantage of opportunities presented by COMESA and the African Continental Free Trade Area (AfCFTA)"
Chileshe Mpundu Kapwepwe, is a Zambian accountant and corporate executive, who serves as the Secretary General of the Common Market for Eastern and Southern Africa (COMESA), effective 18 July 2018. She made history as the first woman to be elected to the position,following her election at the 20th COMESA Heads of State and Government Summit in Lusaka, Zambia's capital city.
"I would say, yes. You know, when a woman gets into a position of power, even me as secretary general of COMESA, a lot of people assumed it was given to me because “it’s time a woman led COMESA”. But the facts are that I did not get into this position as a token."
"There are just so many complex issues that come in when women are vying for positions in politics – issues that usually suppress women all the time, but not the men."
"The skills and abilities anyone brings to a job are what matter, not because you are a man or woman."
"What you can achieve or what you are capable of is taken away simply because you are a woman."
"We have many women now leading big financial institutions, which many people never imagined a woman could lead."
"But we should applaud ourselves where we have women in these positions because in some respects we have moved up, more so in the corporate world where there is more of a level playing field than in politics. This perhaps is because in politics the chances for women to make it higher up are harder."