On March 8th, the Akilah Institute joined the world in celebrating International Women’s Day.

Across Africa, millions of people, men, and women, came together to mark the date, under this year’s theme of #BalanceForBetter.

The theme stems from the realization that sizable gender gaps remain in vital aspects of the economy and society. According to the World Economic Forum (WEF), the gender gap will take at least 108 years to close, and 202 years for economic gender parity at the current pace of change.

Rwanda, where Akilah has its home, has for a long time been the pace-setter in Africa’s journey towards gender equality. The country has the highest representation of women in politics, education, and the workplace in Africa. It is for this reason that it ranks as the best country in Africa in which to be a woman.

Certainly, much remains to be achieved, but many countries in Africa and the world can draw lessons from Rwanda’s progress. In particular, a core driver of this progress has been an emphasis on women’s and girl’s education, a high priority for the country’s government.

As Rwanda’s only women’s college, International Women’s Day holds special significance for the Akilah Institute. For the last ten years, Akilah has educated female leaders to solve the world’s most pressing challenges through a lens of opportunity and sustainability, and in this way made its contribution to Rwanda’s remarkable success.

In celebration of International Women’s Day, Akilah Institute’s Careers Team, in collaboration with Student Affairs, hosted a speaker series, “The Pursuit of Professional Success” at the Kigali Serena Hotel. The event featured a panel discussion with honored guests: Nicole Mugeni (Training Center Manager & Data Admin at Question Coffee), Diane Kareba (Investment & Portfolio Manager at BDF), Evelyn Karamagi (Country Sales & Marketing Manager at Serena Hotel), Olivia Ikilezi (Multimedia Editor at The New Times), and Akilah Board Member Amy Pritchard. During the event, panelists shared their career advice and then participated in a Q&A session where students were given the opportunity to ask questions.

Educating Women for the Careers of the Future

In addition to Friday’s event in Kigali, Elizabeth Dearborn Hughes, the CEO and co-founder of the Akilah Institute was interviewed by CNBC. She shared some of the aspects of Akilah’s unique approach to women’s education through personalized learning, and how these efforts align with Rwanda’s deliberate efforts to achieve gender balance.

“When we opened Akilah and designed our academic model, we said we wanted to prepare women for the careers of today and the future. We have alumnae that are now working in jobs in digital finance, mobile money, solar energy, and computer programming — jobs that didn’t exist even five years ago in some cases.”

The remarkable progress Rwanda has made towards #BalanceForBetter can certainly be replicated across Africa and the world, and women’s and girls education is a key part of this.

You can support these efforts by supporting the Akilah Foundation.