Our history is replete with documented female monarchs, chiefs, traders, medicine women, priestesses, constitutional leaders and most importantly, women as contributing members of their communities. This pamphlet presents the stories of a few selected African women leaders in history. In highlighting these stories, the pamphlet hopes to make them more mainstream and available for the general public, particularly among children, younger people, and all those interested in comprehensive studies on the history of Africa and all its people. 

This is hopefully the first of many pamphlets that seek to decentralize knowledge of African history and enhance its access and availability to all, regardless of class, identity or other factors. Still, by focusing on individual women’s personalities, it captures a very narrow view of African women’s histories, given that African women often, and have always acted collectively to pursue gendered, social, cultural, economic and political interests. It is important, therefore, to note that while the women leaders highlighted here played critical roles at different times in history, they were not always acting individually but within the collective networks of the women in their communities. Their legacies and contributions are therefore also a result of numerous unnamed women working for the betterment of their communities and Africa at large.