Today, women candidates are increasing and the next African elections will open new perspectives to all who have pledged to stir things up in Africa.

Graduated women and activists

A majority of African women who run the highest offices in the African states have in common to be highly educated and active in public debate as civil rights activists. Despite thier successful national and international careers, presidential candidates, however, are struggling to establish themselves in the polls.

Mariama Bayard Gamati received only 0.38% of the vote in the presidential election held in January in Niger. For this candidate, her failure is partly explained by the indifference of the media regarding her candidacy. She thinks, however, that her example may inspire other African female politicians. Mariama Gamatié participated in the election campaign of Marie-Elise Gbède from Benin.

In Cameroon, for the upcoming elections in its country, the Cameroon People's Party has pushed Edith Kah Walla as a candidate for president in October 2011. Known thanks to her professional success through her activism, the founder of Cameroon O 'Bosso is on the list of "150 women who help the world advance", according to the Newsweek magazine in 2011.

For the rights of their fellow citizens

In Democratic Republic of Congo, Angela Makombo Eboum, who is a candidate for president in November 2011 believes that women are in the centre of the African business and she questions the lack of political representation of the fairer sex:

"Women are capable of change. Life in Kinshasa, where women are breadwinner,s gives the most obvious illustration. They push children to study. Why couldn't Congo be like Liberia, Thailand, Brazil, Germany, where state power is exercised by women?"

Mariama Bayard Gamatié has long struggled to assert the rights of her citizens. People discovered her when she organised the march of 13 May 1991 in order to demand the inclusion of women in the National Sovereign Conference. Thanks to her, Nigerian women have their national day on 13 May in Niger.

Now Minister of Justice of Boni Yayi’s Government, Benin's Marie-Elise Akouavi GBEDO was a lawyer who fought hard to revise the Family Code. Her struggle led to the abolition of polygamy and the levirate, a custom whereby women are considered part of man's heritage.

Rwanda: An example of parity

In Rwanda, political parity in power is not an empty word. Following the 2008 parliamentary elections, 45 women were elected to parliament out of a total of 80 seats. With 56% of women in the Chamber of Deputies, Rwanda is the first country to have more women than men in parliament.

A feature that, in the opinion of Kareen Jabre, Programme Manager "Women in Politics" at the Inter-Parliamentary Union (IPU), was due to "the roles of women during the genocide." "In 1994, after these tragic events, it was necessary to rebuild the country on better footing and it was natural to turn to women in politics," she explained.