In a defining moment for African women’s leadership on the global stage, acclaimed journalist and media entrepreneur Stephanie Busari convened an influential delegation of female leaders in Johannesburg for the inaugural Her Story Leadership Exchange, held alongside the Forbes Leading Women Summit 2026.
The March gathering marked a significant milestone for Busari’s growing platform, Her Story, arriving exactly one year after the publication of the Her Story anthology a powerful collection documenting the journeys, impact, and resilience of African women leaders across sectors. The exchange underscored a clear message that African women are not waiting to be included in global narratives; they are writing and reshaping them themselves.
Busari, founder and CEO of SBB Media, assembled a distinguished delegation of founders, executives, and professionals from Nigeria and the wider African diaspora, creating a formidable presence at one of the continent’s most respected gatherings for women in leadership, business, governance, and innovation.
Among the women who formed the delegation were Dr Kemi DaSilva-Ibru, founder of the Women at Risk International Foundation; Udo Okonjo, founder of Radiant Collective Capital; Sophia Momodu; Nkiru Achukwu; Dayo Aderugbo; Solape Fayemi; and Ekene Ajene Onu.
Their presence in Johannesburg was further amplified by diplomatic engagement, as Nigeria’s Consul General in the city, Ambassador Ninikanwa Okey-Uche, officially received the delegation — a gesture that reinforced the importance of building stronger intersections between women’s leadership, diplomacy, and economic influence across the continent.
At the centre of the exchange was the growing influence of the Her Story anthology, edited by Busari and published under her SBB Publishing imprint. More than a book, the anthology has become a literary and cultural intervention — one designed to challenge the often narrow and incomplete narratives historically attached to African women in global discourse.
Through its pages, the anthology captures a broad spectrum of African excellence. Dr DaSilva-Ibru’s contribution reflects her work confronting gender-based violence in Nigeria through WARIF, while Nkiru Achukwu’s chapter chronicles the rise of Zephans & Co. from creative concept to a fashion business that has helped redefine Nigeria’s ready-to-wear industry. Together, these stories form what Busari has positioned as a necessary archive of African women’s leadership not aspirational, but already in motion.
Rather than merely celebrating achievement, the anthology and the exchange both sought to establish what may best be described as “narrative infrastructure” a deliberate effort to document, preserve, and amplify the work of African women whose influence continues to shape institutions, industries, and ideas.
That vision found practical expression at the Forbes summit, where Busari moderated a standout panel titled “Her Story, Our Power: The Women Who Write the Narrative.” The conversation drew on the lived realities of women operating at the intersections of entrepreneurship, governance, investment, advocacy, and creative enterprise, offering a grounded yet forward-looking perspective on what leadership on the continent truly looks like.
But beyond the formal stage, the real strength of the Her Story Leadership Exchange lay in its intimate and strategic convenings.
A private gathering of fifteen women created room for deeper continental dialogue, while a delegation lunch at Nelson Mandela Square allowed conversations to move fluidly between boardroom strategy, personal experience, collaboration, and long-term vision.
~ Oluseyi Taiwo-Oguntuase
