African Women in Science
5 women in the archive worked for women in science. They came from different countries and different centuries, but each of them saw a wrong that others accepted and set out to change it. Read their stories to see how the same cause looked from very different lives.
5 women in the archive
ContemporaryAgathe Uwilingiyimana
Rwanda's first and only female Prime Minister, a chemistry teacher who abolished ethnic quotas in schools, stood against Hutu Power extremism, and was assassinated with her UN guards in the opening hours of the 1994 genocide.
ModernAmeyo Stella Adadevoh
Nigerian physician who identified and contained Nigeria's first Ebola case in 2014, preventing a wider outbreak. She died of the disease; honoured as a national hero.
ModernDupe Ademola-Popoola
Nigerian ophthalmologist and professor; pioneer in paediatric ophthalmology and childhood blindness prevention. Developer of TELVIS vision screening tool; leader in ROP and retinoblastoma care.
ContemporarySegenet Kelemu
Ethiopian molecular plant pathologist who rose from a farming family in Gojjam to become the first woman to lead the International Centre of Insect Physiology and Ecology, putting insect science at the heart of Africa's food security.
ContemporaryTebello Nyokong
Lesotho-born South African chemist, a shepherd girl who became a Fellow of the Royal Society, whose light-activated cancer therapy research aims to give Africa a gentler, cheaper alternative to chemotherapy.