Africa’s ‘female firsts’ get a KFC shoutout for International Women’s Day

A list of 53 remarkable women who defied the odds is being celebrated as part of International Women’s Day 2024. KFC Africa curated this list, featuring one woman for each year the company has been present in Africa. These inspiring individuals, such as Akhona Qengqe, are pioneers in their respective countries, having triumphed over educational, political, social, and financial challenges. Many of them shattered the metaphorical glass ceiling to achieve groundbreaking feats that no woman in their nation had accomplished before.

Representing each of the 23 Sub-Saharan African countries with KFC restaurants, the list includes outstanding figures like Esperança da Costa, who became Angola’s first woman vice president, and Sedia Sanogo, set to lead Côte d’Ivoire’s inaugural female Olympic boxing team in Paris later this year. Akhona Qengqe’s sentiment captures the spirit of these trailblazing women: “While I may be the first, I don’t want to be the last.”

“It’s a remarkable list filled with evidence of hope and possibility,”says Akhona Qengqe, General Manager of KFC Africa. “Seeing what someone else has achieved, especially when they’ve faced the same challenges as you, can be really powerful inspiration.”

Qengqe grew up in Mthatha in the Eastern Cape, where she was exposed to the many challenges most marginalised women face and made her own mark by becoming KFC Africa’s first black female General Manager. “More importantly, in a business where 60% of the 40,000-plus employees are women, I also look like the majority of our workforce,” she says. “Being able to fill this role and represent others is what gives this job real meaning and purpose for me.”

Qengqe says it all adds up to a thirst for empowerment, diversity and inclusion which she is certain KFC shares with its “female firsts” – a list the company plans to expand annually with the help of the public and its customers. “I’m a mother of four, I’m female, I’m African and I lead a huge organisation,” she says. “I’m an original, just like the 53 women we honour on this International Women’s Day. We look forward to seeing this list grow.”

The organisers of this year’s International Women’s Day, with the theme “Inspire Inclusion”, say that “when we inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion, we forge a better world. And when women themselves are inspired to be included, there’s a sense of belonging, relevance and empowerment.”

That sentiment has driven Qengqe’s determination to make KFC the most inclusive quick service restaurant brand in Africa since she joined the company in 2015 as Development Director. Initiatives include KFC Add Hope, a women-led programme that serves more than 30 million free meals to tens of thousands of children every year. In 2021, she launched Women on the Move, which prepares women at KFC for future leadership positions.

Chief People and Transformation Officer Nolo Thobejane says the impact of the programme has been exponential, “and we’ve extended its reach even further through our Women on the Move Extended Network (WOM.XN), which brings together women across the globe, at all levels”.

She adds: “Everyone needs to know that they belong and that they have a career here. Everyone needs to know that they have an opportunity and a shot to reach their potential in life.”

Thobejane is equally proud of the Streetwise Academy, which tackles youth unemployment in areas where KFC operates. “A high percentage of young people don’t have matric, so the academy – which is National Qualifications Framework-accredited – supports them in getting their matric and diplomas. Well over half our students are women.”

The company also runs KFC Mini Cricket, the largest grassroots sports programme in South Africa which gives 120,000 girls and boys between the ages of three and 12 the opportunity to level the playing fields. And 60% of the 13,000 coaches are women.

The public is invited to nominate more “female firsts” for the next edition of this list across sectors and disciplines by emailing za-kfcafricamedia@yum.com.