Book on Culture&African Women Leadership The book is viewed as an important and timely contribution of OH to the ongoing recognition and accelerated promotion of integration of women rights and gender equality in development --as a condition sine qua non for sustainable development. The goal of this book is to help African women complement their modern leadership strategies with tools distilled from traditional women leadership roles, experiences, and networks, thereby empowering them not to lead more effectively and confidently in the hybrid cultural environment in Africa, but also to promote the emergence of a critical mass of African women leaders-sorely needed to populate the apex governance and private sector decision making institutions. The book will provide insights into understanding how women can leverage lessons of their grandmothers' wisdom and leadership skills and styles to enhance their leadership and empowerment goals. The book will also sensitize men on how much they stand to gain by sharing power and challenges at home, the work place and communities.
With increased global focus on the benefits that accrue from strategic promotion of gender equality and women leadership, it#s time for women of Africa to step into leadership roles as a matter of right and equality. But change rarely comes easily, especially in Africa where gender inequality is not only deeply rooted in male dominated cultural traditions, but also condoned by colonial heritage. For African women to lead with rights-based confidence, they must acquire tool-kits of leadership and management skills that integrate women friendly traditional and modern leadership strategies. The goal of this book is to help African women complement their modern leadership strategies with tools distilled from traditional women leadership roles, experiences, and networks, thereby empowering them not to lead more effectively and confidently in the hybrid cultural environment in Africa, but also to promote the emergence of a critical mass of African women leaders-sorely needed to populate the apex governance and private sector decision making institutions. There is strength in numbers. The book will provide insights into understanding how women can leverage lessons of their grandmothers'wisdom and leadership skills and styles (Mamaisms) to enhance their leadership and empowerment goals. The book will also sensitize men on how much they stand to gain by sharing power and challenges at home, the workplace, and communities.
The main messages of thebook include:
Increased awareness raised on the huge impact of culture on gender equality and women empowerment with special focus on women leadership and access to high-level decision-making institutions.
Insights on how lessons from traditional women leadershiproles and experiences can be incorporated into the toolkit for women leadership development.
Examples of what men stand to gain when they wholeheartedly support gender equality and walk side by side with women in decision-making and leadership. Such leadership forged out of equal partnership between men and women will be transformational and more effective in addressing the complex leadershipand development challenges of African communities today.

The strategy:
Through literature review; action research; collection, documentation, and analysis of life stories; testimonies and experiences of women, the book will distil strategies women have used or are using in addressing leadership and management challenges, in a male dominated  environment exacerbated by cultural conflict between Africa and the West, and the frequent conflicts/wars in the African region. The book will offer analysis and lessons from the stories that can help women not only attain the leadership positions they desire, but succeed in them. It will identify traditional women coping mechanisms and networks that can enhance women capacity to address gender based challenges in their private and professional lives. The book will proffer strategies on how women can use the skills of the grandmothers without sacrificing their rights, without accepting inferiority that compromises their management and leadership skills; without discounting the positive traditional aspects of the culture that empower them. Finally the book will include examples of what men have to gain by promoting gender equality and women leadership.